Steven Taylor and Christopher Marlowe- Sorrow of a Time Traveller
by Lancelotlaureate
Summary: Steven takes history into his own hands when he brings playwright Christopher Marlowe onto the TARDIS as a new travelling companion. Over the course of their adventures, their relationship deepens but as time passes he realises that he cannot always protect his friend and must learn to let the future take its course.
1. Chapter 1

**(Christopher Marlowe and Steven Taylor met in the novel 'Empire of Glass'. This story is inspired by their dynamic in the book and is loosely based around the events).**

The Doctor shut the TARDIS doors behind him as he and his two companions disembarked from the blue box out into the cool air outside. Looking around cautiously, Steven grabbed Dodo by the arm to stop her wandering off. She pouted, clearly not interested in staying put and being told what to do.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Steven asked her.

"It's my first trip isn't it? I want to see where we are!"

The Doctor chuckled as Dodo got onto her tiptoes and peered at the tops of the buildings in the cobbled street. "Well curiosity killed the cat my dear."

"And you're not curious at all I suppose?" she asked.

Steven laughed. He wasn't sure what to make of the girl yet. She was friendly enough, and she was certainly up for adventure, but he worried about her. He'd lost a lot of people, and she seemed the type of person to wander off and get herself in trouble. He wondered if she quite understood the seriousness of the situation. Time and space wasn't some picnic, _he_ knew that, but Dodo had yet to find out the price that you can pay for travelling with the Doctor.

"Any idea where we are Doctor?" Steven asked as he saw Dodo edging away from him as though anxious to explore. The Doctor narrowed his eyes and fiddled with his lapels. "Well one can never be certain of these things at first my boy, but I'm certain we're not long after our last trip."

Steven looked around; a shiver went down his spine as he thought about all the victims of the Paris massacre- the victims they were not allowed to save.

"Why do we have to be back in this era? I want to be well away from all this."

"I have no control over where the ship lands; besides I think we're in your own country of birth. We'll ask a few questions here and there and surely someone will give us some hint of when we are if that will help."

"It'll help me to just get back in the ship and leave."

The Doctor pouted, clearly annoyed with Steven's attitude. It was obvious to Dodo- who had returned to see what they were doing- that the two men were at loggerheads over something quite dramatic and serious. She didn't quite want to know what had happened and thought it rude to ask anyway. Besides, being their referee would ruin her fun!

Whilst the Doctor and Steven squabbled by the TARDIS, each of their faces turning red in frustration, Dodo trudged over to the nearest gentleman and tapped him on the shoulder. The man jumped back startled and looked at her like she was some kind of street urchin.

"Who are you?" he asked, looking at her strange clothing and sighing at her.

"I'm Dodo, but that's not important. I just wanted to ask you what year it was, oh and where we are."

"You don't know what year it is?" the man questioned suspiciously.

Dodo gulped, already in trouble. "Oh well…of course _I_ know what year it is…but I wanted to test you silly."

The man looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening, and then leaned in close to the young girl. She could smell his awful breath as he leaned over her. "You're not working for _her_ are you?"

She resisted the urge to comment on his personal hygiene and ask him to take a breath mint.

"Her?" she questioned.

"Her majesty the Queen."

Dodo thought for a moment and then nodded. "Why yes, that's right. So what's the year and where are we?"

"The year of our lord 1591, madam. And we're in Deptford."

Dodo was about to reply when suddenly the Doctor and Steven rushed over, only just realising that the newcomer was conversing with strangers.

"Thanks for your time sir," the Doctor said hurriedly at the man before he ushered Dodo away wagging his finger at her.

"Oh what is it?" Dodo protested. "Don't tell me I'm not actually allowed to talk to anyone in the past?"

The Doctor grumbled. "My dear, we're not suggesting complete non interference, it's just you need to be aware of the dangers of meddling with days gone by."

"What you mean in case I run into one of me own ancestors or something?"

Steven and the Doctor exchanged awkward glances.

"It's a possibility," Steven let out with a sigh.

Dodo agreed that she'd be careful before adding that if she was supposed to just hide away then she would have just stayed in the ship and read a book instead. The Doctor explained a few pointers and suggested the two of them have more of a chat whilst they took a leisurely stroll along the streets and took in a bit of the history around them. Before they left, Dodo explained to the Doctor and Steven where and when they were, not that either of them were surprised.

"And what am I supposed to do?" Steven moaned at his two companions as they headed off into the distance leaving him standing alone with his hands in his pockets.

"Have a drink my boy in that little tavern, we'll come and fetch you later."

"Oh and that's how it is now is it? We arrive somewhere; you saunter off and leave me to get in serious danger in a tavern."

"Lightning doesn't strike twice my dear Steven. Loosen up, relax. You need a break."

"Then why are we back here in this bloody time period?"

The Doctor shook Steven away and led Dodo along the street. Steven sighed wearily, all he wanted was to just forget everything, curl up in a warm bed, and pretend he was as far away from Elizabethan times as possible.

…

He wandered into the tavern and was struck immediately by the stench of his surroundings, not that it was a new experience to him, what with his many trips to the past, but he'd rather a fragrant meadow any day. One of these days he hoped he'd arrive in a time when washing had become a day to day ritual instead of a yearly treat.

He ignored the smell of the stale sweat, and strong ale, and some peculiar whiff of sewage, and instead concentrated on finding a quiet place to sit and drown his sorrows. Reaching the bar, he slumped on a stool and rested his head on the wooden counter.

"Long day?" asked a man who was sitting beside him.

Steven could barely muster up the energy to look up. He eventually gave in and slowly lifted his head in the direction of the voice. His eyes widened in shock when he realised who it was. It was Christopher Marlowe! The playwright, the man he met in Venice when he'd been travelling with Vicki, the man who was living the life of a man presumed dead. But Marlowe had died in his arms in Venice and now he was here, so young, and full of life! He could actually see him again!

"Marlowe?!" Steven exclaimed, so relieved to see him.

Marlowe smiled, intrigued by the stranger. "Have we met?" he asked.

"It's hard to say," Steven let out with an apologetic shrug.

Marlowe was amused by the way the young man was so embarrassed and confused, and the way he was fiddling with the buttons on his jacket. He also noticed how well groomed he was. "If we had met I'm sure I'd remember the pretty face," Marlowe whispered to him.

Steven smiled. He was the same old Marlowe alright!

"It's not important how we met," Steven told him. "I'm just so glad to see you alive and well."

"Well at least someone thinks so," Marlowe replied as he ushered the innkeeper over to them and signalled for two flagons of ale. "So what were you moping about?"

"Oh just a disagreement with someone."

"A disagreement? Men are always in disagreement with one another about something, aren't they?"

Steven nodded and gulped down his drink. The liquid felt soft on his throat as it went down, but it was a lot stronger than he was used to, the taste so vivid, even after he'd swallowed he could feel it lingering.

"So come on then handsome stranger," Marlowe whispered in Steven's ear. "What are you going to do about this disagreement of yours?"

"Nothing. Suffer in silence seems the best bet."

"You can tell me! I promise my lips are truly sealed. I won't tell anyone of any of your exploits if that's what you're worried about."

Steven laughed. "No, you'll just write a play about it."

Marlowe nodded with humour and held out his hand. "Well if you're to be a star player in one of my plays, then I must know your name friend?"

"Steven Taylor."

"Well then, Steven Taylor. What is the disagreement about? Murder, revenge, sex, intrigue?"

"You're very persistent aren't you?"

"I'm a playwright. What can I say I'm interested in people."

Steven laughed. "Nothing quite as scandalous as you're hoping I expect, but the story is that I didn't agree with the decision of a man I generally respect."

"And that's all?" Marlowe asked as he gulped down the rest of his drink and wiped the foam from his mouth.

"All?" Steven said. His eyebrows rose in surprise. "That's not enough? My friend's choice meant people died."

"Did your friend kill these people?"

"Well no, not directly. But there was no need for them all to die. He could have saved someone."

"So he looked the other way? And you'd have rushed in and rescued the people and been the hero would you?"

"Well if you're just going to make fun of me…"

Marlowe patted Steven on the back to show he was sympathetic. "It's obviously a very difficult matter but I feel the best way to move on is to let the matter go, find peace with it. And if that doesn't work, getting roaring drunk might help."

…

Steven and Marlowe sat outside the tavern and watched the townsfolk go about their lives as they finished off their next beverages. Steven was starting to feel the effects now and could barely keep his eyes open. Marlowe seemed to get merrier, whilst Steven remained solemn and weary.

"And may I ask where this all happened? This terrible event that you're so traumatised by?" asked Marlowe.

"Paris, the Massacre of St. Bart…" Steven began before he realised that he had said too much. He placed his hands over his mouth in annoyance.

"The massacre in Paris but that was almost twenty years ago? You'd have been but a mere boy."

Steven didn't know how to respond. He scolded himself for saying anything, knowing that Marlowe was bound to be curious.

"I can't explain what I mean Marlowe; you'd never believe it in a million years."

"I wish you'd call me Kit. You sound like my professor at Cambridge when you call me Marlowe. And believe me; nothing you say could be of any shock to me."

Steven laughed. "What if I were to tell you I'm a time traveller?"

Marlowe looked at Steven with fascination and smirked. "Well alright, that is one I've never heard before. You never told me you were a writer yourself."

"I'm not a writer," Steven replied. "I'm a space pilot."

"And what is a 'space pilot' exactly?"

"I fly machines in outer space."

Marlowe laughed heavily. "For some reason I want to believe you. Either I'm mad or I'm much more drunk than I thought."

"We've met before you and me. I saw you in the future."

"Couldn't keep away from me eh?"

"Don't you take anything seriously?"

"Says the man asking me to accept his story of flying men and future versions of myself meeting past versions of yourself!"

"It's all true, believe me. That's why this is all so difficult. Time is impossible to be around, you always mess it up."

Marlowe stared deeply into Steven's eyes. "I hope our time together this night is never 'messed up'."

"You're not exactly the sort of man I'd forget, don't worry about that."

…

Marlowe lifted his drunken head from the table and managed to mumble his words. "You know, the massacre at Paris would make an intriguing setting for a play."

Steven went pale and rubbed his throbbing head. "You mean you haven't written it yet?"

"You only gave me the inspiration five minutes ago. I know I'm good but…"

Steven suddenly felt even more ill and disorientated. "I just assumed…"

"It's an event that's played on my mind more than once," Marlowe told him. "Your apparent time traveller self being there has stirred up some ideas."

"You're not going to write about me are you?"

"Sorry to disappoint you but the story of a flying man in outer space didn't quite fit the setting. Ludicrous to have anyone believe in such a thing."

Steven wasn't sure if that was a complete godsend, after all it was certainly good to know that a Marlowe play wasn't going to suddenly have an extra act about space travellers from the stars, but he was also a bit worried as to what the Doctor was going to say when he found out he'd gotten drunk with a famous playwright and revealed possible secrets about the future to him. He decided not to tell him.

…

Steven felt the cold breeze against his cheek as the day turned to night and the temperature started to drop considerably. He was shaken awake by a forceful shove. Looking up, he could make out the face of the Doctor, though it was extremely blurry and out of focus. Carefully, he lifted his head and looked at the old man who was watching him with rather a disapproving expression.

"I said relax my boy, not pass out drunk."

Steven rubbed his head and focused his eyes, finally able to see that Dodo- who was now beside the Doctor- was one person and not two! He managed to croak a few words of apology and then sat himself up into an upright position. He looked next to him and realised that Marlowe was still beside him, face down on the table, snoring gently, his dribble making its way down his chin onto the surface below.

Dodo laughed. "Who's your friend?"

"His name is Christopher," Steven told them quickly. The Doctor was already peering at the drunken man, his eyes narrowing and examining him. He scratched his chin and then shook away the feeling that he'd met the man before.

"You two sure had a party!" Dodo cried. "Seems I missed out on all the fun!"

"Dear girl, you are far too young to drink," the Doctor harrumphed.

"I'll be able to drink legally on my next birthday, besides if you think I've never had a drink before…"

Steven hushed her; her voice was far too loud and not helping with the headache he had acquired, or rather brought on himself. He could feel the beats of his heart thumping loudly in his chest and everything generally seemed amplified, even the Doctor's chin scratching.

"Come along Steven," the Doctor said. "Let's get away from this place and hope to find perhaps a more peaceful retreat hmmm?"

Steven nodded gratefully and started to get up shakily. "Wait a minute, what about him?" he said pointing to his inebriated chum.

"What about him?"

"I can't just leave him in that state. And I'd like to say goodbye first. I'm never going to see him again."

Dodo and the Doctor exchanged surprised glances.

"I didn't realise you'd gotten so close," the Doctor said. "Well wake him up, say your farewells and meet us back at the ship in ten minutes."

It took Steven a full five minutes to rouse the sleeping Marlowe, and when he'd accomplished it, Marlowe was singing gently to himself. He looked up at Steven and smiled.

"What a wonderful dream I was having!" he said as he stretched out his arms and let out a hearty yawn. "Head's throbbing a bit though. I say, how much did we drink?"

"Enough," Steven replied.

He let Marlowe compose himself, and then started to stand up, ready to leave. He hovered by the table trying to find the words to say goodbye. He was never good with finding the right things to say.

"Oh are you leaving?" Marlowe seemed disappointed.

"I'm afraid so, my friends are waiting for me. I just wanted to thank you for a fun evening, and for listening to my stories."

Marlowe smiled warmly. "It was a pleasure; though I have to be honest I don't really quite remember everything you told me."

Steven laughed. "It's probably a good thing!"

"Am I ever going to see you again?" Marlowe asked with some hope in his voice.

Steven sighed. "Maybe, maybe not. I can never really tell."

Marlowe smiled and shook Steven's hand in friendship. "I thoroughly enjoyed our evening Steven Taylor, you are not like one usually meets in taverns, and I don't suppose I ever shall meet someone quite as interesting as you. Until we meet again, I shall see you in my dreams. Farewell Steven."

There was a brief moment of hesitation before Steven turned to leave. Not looking back he made his way to the TARDIS and tried to shake off the feelings that he'd never see his friend again. He'd got to meet him another time, and that was something at least.

…

Marlowe got up from the table and smiled towards the direction that Steven had left. "Ah, what was it? The Massacre at Paris, what drama! What intrigue! What despair of recent times! Was he truly there? Ah, well, perhaps a story is to be told…"


	2. Chapter 2- Decision of a Time Traveller

Part 2- **Steven meets Christopher Marlowe for the third time and tries to take history into his own hands.**

"Remind me why we're back here again?" Steven said as he stared at the same grotty Deptford tavern he'd not so long ago visited in 1591. The Doctor sighed and looked back in the direction of the TARDIS as he gently led Dodo onto the pathway ahead of the inn.

"I'm not entirely certain why we're here again, my boy. It's certainly perplexing. The fast return switch might hold some clue but until I can get the general systems working again, I'm afraid we're most stuck."

"Let me guess," Steven began, looking around with apprehension. "We'll have to stay here whilst you can tinker about with the TARDIS?"

The Doctor didn't answer straight away; once again his attention focused on his own concerns of the TARDIS rather than on the questions of his companions, but it was evident that the Doctor was once again not entirely certain of how his ship worked. Dodo gave him a soft nudge. "Doctor, if you want to go back and try and fix it, I don't mind staying with Steven."

"Oh so I can babysit?" Steven muttered but felt bad when he caught Dodo's dejected expression from the corner of his eye. He certainly hadn't meant to take his frustrations out on her but everything about the 16th century gave him a pounding feeling in his temples. He'd seen so much pain in that particular time and being back there yet again was something he found himself incredibly frustrated with. Luckily for him, Dodo hadn't taken offence, she rarely did, and normally she just pouted and ignored his comments, keen to prove that his moodiness was not going to ruin the fun she could have.

"Yes, yes, that's an idea. What do you think, dear boy? Spend some time in the tavern if you like. I know how you like a drink. Book yourselves a room."

"Dodo can't just sit in the bar all night Doctor, it's the 1590's isn't it?"

Dodo ignored him. "I'll give it a bash!"

The Doctor rubbed his chin in thought. "Steven is right, my dear. It'd be best if you got some rest upstairs, away from the debauchery and drinking."

Dodo frowned. She understood the time period restrictions and the problems of her young age and gender, but she still felt annoyed about being left out of all the fun, not that Steven seemed to have any intention to lighten up and enjoy the atmosphere. Dodo wanted some adventure, and some partying, but she never got the opportunity. Her auntie never liked her to have a drink in a pub in her own time, so in some ways travelling felt just the same- and nothing had changed. She was always the Dodo who was obligated to do what everybody else wanted, not the Dodo who had a say in her own life.

…

"So you're leaving me completely alone up here?" Dodo protested as she folded her arms. She was perched uncomfortably on the bed in the room they'd booked. Steven sat down beside her and gave her a nudge.

"It'll only be a little while. I just need a drink to calm my nerves, alright? I promise I won't forget about you."

Dodo refused to answer, moving her face away from him. She couldn't believe she was being left alone in a smelly room with no entertainment or company whatsoever.

She threw herself down onto the bed and sighed heavily, burying her head in the rough material of the blanket which only seemed to make her sneeze. It reminded her of the time she'd been stuck in a room with Doc Holliday, and she hadn't liked it then either. Steven decided not to say anything, and shut the door behind him as he left. He made his way downstairs into the bar area and sighed.

The inn was emptier than he had expected. Last time he'd been there the tavern had been a lot more raucous and filled to the brim with punters.

He made himself as comfy as he could on one of the hard stools at the bar and he was just about to order a drink when he heard a familiar voice calling to him. "Steven Taylor?"

Steven spun around on his stool eagerly. It was Christopher Marlowe! He'd recognise his voice anywhere! Even though he'd met Marlowe before in the very same tavern, he somehow never expected to meet him there again. Marlowe looked more or less the same as their last encounter, but appeared even more tired around his bloodshot eyes, the purple bags rather prominent underneath. Steven stared hard at the man for a moment, taking in everything about him. Marlowe seemed different somehow, but Steven couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. He considered it was the way Marlowe was sitting, much more tense and straight than he was used to, and the man's beard was more unkempt and his hair was messy and bedraggled, unlike before when he'd been reasonably neat and tidy.

Marlowe looked over at his old friend. "Steven, at long last!"

"Kit!" Steven beamed, slapping him on the shoulder in friendship. "I can't believe it's you!"

"Likewise, man from the future," Marlowe whispered with a big grin spread across his face. "Two years is a long time to be deprived of your masculine beauty, but I somehow knew we'd meet again."

"It's absurd!" Steven let out with a squeak. "Us meeting again? Wait, two years, you haven't seen me for two years?"

"Indeed my dear Steven, two long and hectic years."

Steven smiled broadly like a Cheshire cat, hardly concealing the happiness he felt at seeing his old friend again, though he wondered how significant it was that he'd managed to run in to him for the third time.

"I was hoping our paths would cross again," Marlowe said as he signalled to the barman for two flagons of ale. "Where have you been hiding friend?"

Steven laughed. "Oh you'd never believe me if I told you."

"There aren't many things I won't believe, even if the rest of the world is so blind to the endless possibilities."

The innkeeper handed them their drinks and Steven noticed Marlowe's hand was trembling erratically and he was finding it hard to keep the flagon still. Every few moments he looked over his shoulder again, always looking as though to make sure he wasn't being observed.

Steven gulped down some of his drink and grimaced at the bitter taste of the beverage. "It seems like I missed a lot, what have you been up to?"

Marlowe glanced at Steven, glancing around once again to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "Surely an adventurer such as you can see the experience etched on the lines of my face?"

"I don't really see you as someone who needs more experience."

"It's terrifying how much you seem to understand me," Marlowe replied. "It's been an eventful two years and I fear I cannot tell you half of the things that have happened to me in that time."

"Don't worry. I already know. I read your online bio."

"My what?"

Steven looked away with a smirk but felt slightly guilty for poking fun at his friend from the past. "I just meant I heard things here and there."

There was an awkward silence as they both finished their drinks, Marlowe gulping his down in a few short gulps like he was in an almighty hurry. He wiped the foam from his chin but some of the residue remained on his scruffy beard. He slapped the counter with his bruised hand. "One thing you'll be pleased to know is that my play 'The Massacre at Paris' has this year made the stage." He stopped talking when he noticed Steven's surprise. "Not to worry, Mr. Taylor. You remain anonymous. No one knows your little secrets…unlike mine."

Steven was unsure of how to respond to the news, almost knowing more about Marlowe than the man did himself. Time travelling was always tricky, and it was even more difficult trying not to reveal that he knew the journey the individual was going to take. Steven knew Marlowe's eventual fate, knew where he had been, and where he was going to end up, but how he was going to get there was another question.

"Is there something troubling you?" Marlowe asked, noticing Steven was quieter than usual.

"If I told you, you might write a play about it."

Marlowe laughed, slapping Steven heartily on the back. "I knew my play would stir some deep feelings in you Steven, as I know how it affected you so intensely the last time we met. But never matter, what say we ignore the troubles that brew like a witch's potion, and instead let's drink to truth and beauty, and I know that you have both of those?"

Steven lifted up his flagon and made the toast. "To truth," Steven said, fully aware that truth was something a time traveller was never quite in possession of. He would never get the hang of it, never.

…

"Steven, have I got to stay up here all evening on my own?!" Dodo called out as she peered around the door of the bar and noticed her friend chatting away with a man she recognised but couldn't place at that moment. Spotting her loitering by the door, looking anything other than inconspicuous, Steven shot out of his stool and rushed over. As soon as he reached her he was shoving her out of the door and away from prying eyes.

"Dodo, you can't just stroll in, it's not 1966 in here!"

She looked over at Marlowe, staring at his face, working out where she knew him from. Marlowe watched her with an amused expression painted on his otherwise tired face and then of course it was obvious, she'd met him the last time they arrived in the 1590's!

"Oh, I see," Dodo said, nudging Steven. "Isn't that the same bloke from last time, the drunken one? Am I interrupting something between you two?"

Steven shuffled uncomfortably on the spot. "No," he lied. "He's not who you're thinking of."

"Shut up, I'm good with faces. He's the one who was passed out outside, dribbling all over the table."

"Yes, alright Dodo. Look, you need to get out of here. This is no place for a young woman."

"Who is this delightful young lady?" Marlowe called aloud from the other side of the room. "I say Steven, you kept her a secret. Come over here so I can meet her properly."

Dodo didn't wait for Steven's approval and strolled past him, head held high as she walked into the bar. She sat down next to Marlowe and held out her hand in greeting. "I'm Miss Dodo Chaplet," she told him.

"Pleasure." He looked her up and down and laughed. "So you're what Steven was hiding upstairs? Can't say I'm too surprised, men have their urges and all that."

Dodo was flummoxed for a moment before she realised what he was getting at. Her face then changed to that of disgust. "I beg your pardon! I'm nothing of that sort!"

Steven hurried over and held his hand over Dodo's mouth. "She's my sister, not what you're thinking…at all. Dodo, get back upstairs before anyone else gets the wrong idea."

"I'm dreadfully sorry Miss. Chaplet I just assumed what with you being hidden away in the bedroom of the tavern that…well…you know. But may I inquire as to why you don't share the same surname with your brother?"

Steven looked at Dodo and started shoving her out of the room. "It's a long story, I'll tell you about it sometime I expect."

Steven ignored the tirade of insults from Dodo as she stomped up the stairs, lifting her skirts above her knees so she didn't trip over the layers. Steven laughed, he did feel terrible, sometimes he was horrible to Dodo, he knew he was, but he'd seen many of his friends die and he couldn't bear that to happen to her too. This time period was not safe for anyone.

"Another drink?" Steven said trying to ignore Marlowe's amused expressions. He sat back down to where Marlowe had already ordered him another flagon of ale. Steven noticed that he was the only one with another drink in front of him.

"Didn't you want one?"

Marlowe looked around him again and then shook his head in regret. "I'm afraid I have a prior engagement with a friend. I do wish I could spend more time with you before I go but it is very difficult."

"Before you go where? What's going on?" Steven asked, suddenly feeling very anxious as Marlowe looked at him with tears in his eyes.

"Never mind about that. I'm going to meet Ingram Frizer, an old friend, just a few drinks, nothing to worry about."

But Steven recognised the name immediately, remembering what he had read about Marlowe's life. "What day is it today?"

"It is the 30th day of the fifth month, how is it that you do not know?"

Steven shrugged. "Don't know, tired I guess. Look, Marlowe I know what's going to happen."

The Doctor had set him down on the very night Marlowe supposedly died, and by just being there he knew there was a great certainty that he was going to become involved. Becoming involved in historic events was not something Steven enjoyed, especially after one of the Doctor's stern lectures, and even more especially after the tragedy of leaving Anne Chaplet behind to be slaughtered in the massacre- he had never been certain if she had survived. But he also wanted Marlowe to be happy, wanted to assure he could have a better life- maybe it was he that was supposed to save Marlowe. What if Marlowe was really going to die and he was his only chance of survival? He had to do something!

"I can help you if you want it," Steven blurted out, not exactly sure what he was saying. If the Doctor heard him he'd be in for a telling off, but in that moment he could only do what he felt was right. "I can offer you the escape from your trial."

…

The Doctor frowned as he saw Dodo emerge through the TARDIS doors on her own later that evening. She was walking with her arms folded as though yet again she'd been told what to do by Steven.

The Doctor was switching some buttons on the console and seemed particularly pleased with himself, and Dodo could see he'd made progress with the ship's malfunctioning systems. The Doctor looked at his young companion again. "My dear Dodo, what are you doing back here, I thought I instructed you to stay with Steven at the pub?"

"Steven's got something else to sort out, says I was in the way," she replied and she started mumbling and moaning as she said it, cursing under her breath.

The Doctor chuckled and patted her head lightly. "Oh my dear, you do rather get left out, don't you? I promise the next trip we go on you will be in the spotlight and we'll leave Steven behind in the ship shall we, hmmm?"

Dodo let out a grateful smile but it was clear there was uncertainty in her glance.

"Goodness me, what is it child, you look as though you've seen a ghost?"

Dodo seemed reluctant to open up but the Doctor stared at her hard- he had a way of convincing her to unburden all her problems to him. "It's Steven. I'm worried he's going to do something stupid."

"What do you mean child?"

"He said something about saving someone, bringing him back to the TARDIS instead of letting him face something here in 1593, at this house in a street opposite the park. Do you think he's in trouble?"

The Doctor's face tightened and he sighed, knowing full well Steven's impetuous nature. "I feared something like this could happen after what he's seen. He's going to get into a lot of bother if he dares tampering with history. We have to stop him. Come on my dear, let's go and fetch him."

…

Marlowe and Steven stood outside a large grand house, both looking up at the windows and whispering to each other. The house wasn't far from the inn and was situated near a park. The walk had been pleasant, and both men had appreciated the time to take in the night air and each other's company. But when they reached the house, the mood changed. Marlowe sensed Steven's uncertainty straight away. He turned to face him.

"How is it that you know about my future?" he asked as he and Steven shivered in the night air. "How can you know what I yet do not?"

"I told you, I'm a time traveller. Look, you believed me before didn't you? Believe me again Kit. Something bad might happen tonight, I can't be completely certain that it does, but you have to be alert, something terrible might happen."

Marlowe seemed to believe Steven's urgency and he stared at the house again with apprehension. "What are you suggesting I do?"

"I have a way out for you if you need it. I will wait here. Go in there, have a drink, make your excuses to leave and then wait for me outside. I can get you away from this life."

Marlowe ran his hand through his hair, trembling, unsure of what to do and what was happening. "Steven, you're asking me to put all my belief in you, that somehow you will lead me to a better place. You wish for me to leave all this behind?"

"You're on trial anyway, what if you're found guilty? And if you stay in there, there's a good chance you're not going to fare much better."

Marlowe considered for a moment, staring deeply at Steven who was anxiously pacing up and down beside one of the bushes outside the house, lining the edge of the premises. Marlowe began pacing too, his heart pounding with intensity. Finally he stopped still. "Alright I will do as you instruct. I trust you."

He shivered and headed into the house, looking back at Steven as he did so. Steven hid away behind the bush, away from sight, away from being spotted by strangers, but just as he'd hidden he was startled by two figures beside him. He knew instantly it was the Doctor and Dodo, he just knew.

"What on Earth are you doing, dear boy?" the Doctor said, pulling Steven out of the shadows and onto the pathway where he could see him. He looked him up and down. Steven turned away, annoyed at his interference.

"Doctor, go back to the ship, there's something I must do. Christopher Marlowe is counting on a way out of this mess. If I don't help him he's had it either way."

"My dear boy, you cannot change the outcome of what is to happen here tonight. I don't know exactly what is to occur but whatever it is, you are to leave well alone."

"But Doctor what if I was meant to be here all along, otherwise how does he eventually get to Venice? Here he's going to die. He hasn't got any plans of escape."

"We can't realise the final pattern. It may happen some other way."

"And you'd let a man die?"

The Doctor's face fell. "It's not up to any of us to make that choice. We were never supposed to be here- if we weren't then we would never have known."

"But we are here Doctor, maybe this is always the way it was meant to happen."

The Doctor raised his voice. "Steven, my boy, you cannot do what you are proposing. He cannot come with us."

"You couldn't save Katarina or Sara, you couldn't save Oliver, and you wouldn't save Anne, but I have a chance to save Marlowe and I'm going to do it because I am not going to lose someone else I care about!"

The Doctor's lip quivered and he gripped his lapels tightly, angling his face away from his young companion. He didn't say anything and instead grabbed Dodo's arm and began to lead her away back to the TARDIS. "I'll wait for you in the ship," he said softly. He was too tired to argue any more.

Steven watched the Doctor and Dodo leave and caught Dodo's sympathetic expression before she disappeared from view. He was glad that she was their travelling companion. He made fun of her from time to time and acted like she was his annoying younger sister but when he thought about it, Dodo had stopped him from falling out with the Doctor, had rather released the tension…for a while at least. She had bridged the gap for a time between the two of them at the worst stage of their relationship, when they no longer understood each other.

Steven sighed and sat down onto the rough ground, completely ignoring how uncomfortable he felt. He anxiously waited as the minutes passed by and Marlowe had yet to come out. He resisted the urge to panic. He decided to wait, giving himself half an hour before he'd go inside and get him. He looked at his watch again, time was ticking away, and the more it did, the more his face tightened. Finally, twenty minutes after sitting down, he saw a figure emerging from the house, and with relief he realised it was Marlowe hiding slightly behind his cloak.

Steven rushed over to him and smiled broadly, noticing he wasn't injured- though he did seem agitated and a little shaken. "You're alright?"

Marlowe nodded. "I'd rather not talk about this now, we must leave quickly. I have a feeling they're not very happy with me."

"And how did you excuse yourself?"

"Said I was getting some fresh air. They're expecting me back soon."

He looked around making sure no-one was listening and then grabbed Steven's arm urgently. "You did mean what you said didn't you? That I can come with you? I'll be safe?"

Steven hesitated for a moment, realising that he could be messing with something he wasn't supposed to. He looked into Marlowe's saddened eyes and knew that supposed to or not, he had to go with his heart. Marlowe was a human being, and he couldn't stand by and let him die, or be imprisoned or what other horrible outcome could occur. If he did change the course of Marlowe's life, than so be it.

He grabbed Marlowe's hand and told him to run. They ran together through the town's streets like fugitives in the darkness. Kit's cloak swished behind him so that he resembled a superhero. He had never run so fast in his entire life, and despite the fear he felt, he had a strange sense of excitement as his hand gripped Steven's. Near the end of the cobbled streets, the vibration of the TARDIS could be heard in the silence of the night. Steven fell against the police box with exhaustion and banged hard onto the door. A moment later, the doors parted like magic.

"What is this box?" Marlowe asked as he gazed at it with amusement and wonder. "It's rather small."

"Believe me, it's not quite what you're thinking."

…

Marlowe entered the TARDIS and stared around in awe as he ventured further inside to the time and space machine that was bigger on the inside. The Doctor and Dodo stood at the console both a little apprehensive about their new guest but also rather intrigued. Steven had asked the Doctor and Dodo if Marlowe was welcome to join them on their adventures, they had been hesitant but there was little other option, the future for Marlowe remained unclear. But he was safe for a while at least.

"I couldn't imagine such a paradise. A magical realm contained in a box so small. If I were to believe in heaven I would think I had arrived there."

"Welcome aboard Kit," Steven said softly. "Your life in England is over but your new life has just begun."


	3. Chapter 3- The First Trip

Part 3- **Now a fully fledged TARDIS member, Christopher Marlowe tries to adapt to travelling in time and space.**

The tall, broad, muscular prison guard silently led the dejected Steven Taylor and his friend Christopher Marlowe into the small cell aboard the stargazer 3000 facility. The cold hit them the moment they entered the room, and a damp smell lingered around like it had yet to dry after a vigorous clean. Steven smiled for a moment; he was at least relieved that their captors had good hygiene standards and were not making them stay with the rats!

Marlowe made no attempt to struggle as the burly guard pushed him into the room with a forceful shove. Kit Marlowe was a lean fellow with puny arms and legs and a lack of psychical strength- he certainly would never win in a fight against the guard. Instead he made himself as comfortable as he could on the bed and looked at his friend who was by the door trying to bargain.

"Are you still not going to let me explain?" Steven said. He was greeted with a stony silence and the sound of the little hatch closing down on the door, sealing them in tight.

Steven sighed and looked at Marlowe apologetically. For some reason he felt responsible for him, knowing it was he who had whisked him away from his life in the 16th century and placed him into a time period so out of his depth. Marlowe forced a smile and lay back against the pillow. "What was that about keeping me out of prison?"

…

Steven showed Marlowe to the TARDIS wardrobe whilst Dodo and the Doctor waited for them in the console room. After the two men had cleaned up, and the Doctor had shown the young playwright the layout of the ship, they'd had a quick sleep and were ready for their next trip with the Doctor who was anxious to get moving. Marlowe had been particularly quiet during the previous few hours, desperately trying to comprehend his new surroundings, anxious to take in as much new information as he could. Steven had tried his best to coach him, but that was life with the Doctor, diving right in without a chance to take a breath- and for a man from the 16th century, it was even harder to adapt to.

"You could wear this," Steven said, holding up a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt with a spiral design on the front. Marlowe started to laugh and touched the clothing material, grimacing at it as he did so. "Now, what's wrong with this one?" Steven sighed. "You've hated all three of my suggestions."

"All three were tasteless," Marlowe informed him as he paced back and forth the stretch of the room, puffing his chest out and waving his arms around in a theatrical manner. "I need an outfit befitting of an adventurer. All I have seen today, all I could never imagine is right before my very eyes, but oh dear the clothing is so very garish."

Steven nodded. He was growing impatient, the man was even more annoying in the wardrobe than Dodo- but he understood Marlowe's point of view. Steven reached onto the higher shelves of the wardrobe and pulled down an old trunk. It made a crashing sound as it landed hard on the floor. "Costumes! Maybe this ought to do the trick."

He opened the trunk with ease and was greeted with the sight of some of his old period dress from various travels into the past. He stared sadly at the tunic he'd worn in Venice. He tried to conceal it from Kit, observing that the tunic was still slightly stained with blood, the blood of Marlowe who'd died in his arms in the future he'd already seen. Was Marlowe still to meet the same fate? Or had he changed everything?

He ignored his sadness at the possible future and selected a costume from deep in the trunk. Just at that moment the Doctor arrived, scoffing and hissing.

"Steven my boy, he can't wear those. Who knows where we'll end up? I'm afraid, Mr. Marlowe you will need to adapt quite a bit if you're to be a permanent guest aboard my ship."

"And you blend in so well," Steven remarked, looking the Doctor up and down.

The Doctor let out a huffy snort and then left the room as quickly as he'd entered. Marlowe wondered why he'd bothered to come in at all.

"Sorry Kit, he is right. You can't keep dressing like a 16th century playwright."

Marlowe sighed. "It's a good job I like you isn't it dearest Steven? There's not a chance I'd wear these hideous garbs for anyone else."

Steven watched as Marlowe pulled a simple black rolled neck jumper on over his head and then he turned away so Marlowe could put on the slacks.

"How do I look?" Marlowe said as he spun around in front of the TARDIS mirror.

Steven let out a grin. "I can barely recognise you, it's certainly a change."

"Yes," he replied, looking seriously at his own reflection in the mirror. "The greatest change of my life."

"Do you regret coming?"

There was a hesitation as Marlowe continued to stare into the mirror, glancing carefully at his weary features. "I know that you did it to help me, and for that I am thankful. I am anxious of course, confused too. I've seen so much in this ship already that is incomprehensible, yet I know my time at home could quite easily have been the end of me."

He stared at Steven hard and looked down as his own clothing. "I think I am ready to face the outside though, give it a chance at least."

Steven smiled. "Come on then Kit, let's see what you're made of."

…

Arriving on the stargazer facility, the team left the TARDIS and stood around gazing at the mighty view aboard the structure. It was a beautiful sight as they peered through the large window that stretched along the entire wall and showcased the rather breathtaking planets below. Dodo noticed the sign on the wall about needing a pass to enter the facility but the Doctor shook her away, explaining it was only for certain areas of the deck.

"Can we explore a bit more, Doctor?" Dodo said excitedly as she tugged his arm.

Steven smiled at her, shocked that she'd even bothered to ask his permission. Maybe she'd grown or maybe she just didn't want any more arguments. Marlowe, who looked a little space-sick, clung onto Dodo's arm for a moment, unable to stand on his own two feet without feeling he was going to tumble forward.

"Are you alright Chris?" Dodo said.

"It's Kit," Steven said correcting her. "And are you alright, you look a little…uneasy?"

"I'm in space, Steven. I've never been further travelled than Europe and you ask if I'm uneasy. Not to worry though, all I have to do is be as confident as young Dodo here and I shall be alright."

"It's easy when you get used to it," Dodo said. "Just pretend you're really experienced and it'll all fall into place."

Marlowe nodded as the Doctor gathered them all together to discuss their plans. "Now, I think it would be best if the child and I explored the upper level. You Steven can take your young friend on a tour."

Steven agreed, though he wondered if the Doctor wanted to split up more for his suspicions about Marlowe than any careful planning. He nodded and let the Doctor and Dodo leave before turning to Kit to see if he was alright.

"He doesn't like me very much."

"He doesn't know you. And it's my fault really; I just thrust everyone together without asking."

…

The Doctor tried his hardest to keep up with Dodo's pace, but it was clear he was never going to catch up. She stopped briefly when she realised he was so far behind and she headed back to meet him at the statue of the space man. She knew he wasn't quite as stuffy about her wandering off as Steven was, but she also didn't want to lose him in the process.

"Looks like a big place, Doctor," she said as she linked her arm through his. "Do you think there are any people about?"

The Doctor laughed. "Oh my dear, your enthusiasm is very charming. I believe so, if we can find the route to the main platforms. I dare say Steven and that young playwright will find something if we don't."

"You don't trust Kit, do you?"

"Oh goodness, it's not a matter of trust, its Steven I'm worried about. I really don't think he knew what he was doing when he invited that chap along."

"I think he's quite cute. Nice to have a new friend isn't it?"

The Doctor scratched his chin. "Yes, well we'll see hmm? See what this Mr. Marlowe makes of all of this."

…

"Kit, are you alright?" Steven sat on the bench, looking at his friend who was on the bed hugging his knees the way a child would when they were afraid. "We're going to get out of here, I promise."

"It's not that. This cell is practically luxury compared to some of the places I've been and I have wonderful company, it's just this constant feeling that I am not really here, that this is some kind of dream and I'm going to wake up and realise with despair that I dreamt you."

"That's more of a nightmare isn't it?" Steven said with a grin. "Look, I know how hard this is, how hard it is to wake up and your whole life is different. I never told you this but I was held captive, alone for years, stranded on another planet, locked up with what I thought was no hope. It made me pretty sick of prison cells. But then the Doctor came and I had a chance. You now have a chance, which I doubt you would have if you'd stayed."

"So the Doctor is what, some kind of guardian angel?"

"Not particularly, just there at the right time I suppose. He completely stumbled in by accident, that's the way he normally does it."

Marlowe let go of his knees and leaned forward on the bed. Looking at him, Steven couldn't quite believe that he was from a time so far in the past. With the new clothes, his hair neatened and his beard trimmed, he looked far more like someone of his own time than someone of the 16th century.

"I'm very sorry for your years of isolation. How did you cope with that level of loneliness? Sometimes when I'm alone too long I feel utter despair. Sometimes the characters of my plays are more real to me than life itself. They keep me sane when nights are lonely and black."

"I tried to keep as busy as I could, building things and keeping my mind sharp. There were days when it really hit me, but then others when I didn't stop working, determined that one day I'd be free. When the Doctor arrived I couldn't stop talking."

"You have unburdened much upon me Steven. It is a pleasure to hear some of your stories as you have spent a lot of time listening to mine. I feel as though I understand some of your heartache though I was not there to feel it with you."

Steven suddenly felt a bit of embarrassment. He rarely spoke in depth about his time on Mechanus but even talking about it briefly brought him out in a nervous rash. He was so used to being alone and bottling up any emotional feeling, that when confronted with it, it felt so alien, just as Marlowe felt alien existing in a future where he was never meant to be.

"Is the Doctor going to hurry up and get us out of here?" Marlowe began. "I don't want you to start worrying about spending another few years in captivity."

"I think he'll be right along, I'm not worried."

…

Marlowe and Steven had fallen asleep- Steven upright on the bench and Marlowe splayed out on the bed. It had been a few hours before the Doctor and Dodo had arrived to release them. As soon as the door opened, Steven and Marlowe woke up, both so pleased to see the old man standing in the doorway.

"Doctor!" Steven cried as he ran over to him. "Did you tell them? Did you explain that we're just lost? We tried to tell them we were travellers but they wouldn't listen."

"My dear Steven, calm down, it's been settled. The child and I had a rather interesting discussion with the people in charge here and we have solved this little misunderstanding. Come along both of you, we wouldn't want you getting used to prison life would we, hmmm?"

Marlowe followed Steven to the door and grabbed the Doctor's hand, shaking it wildly and then kissing Dodo on the cheek. "I say, well done and thank you."

Dodo smiled broadly and nudged the Doctor who was hovering uncomfortably on the spot. He cleared his throat and with a gruff voice said. "Well, you're welcome young man but let's just get you back to the ship. I think we've seen most of this stargazer that need be seen. Time for another adventure hmmm?"

Steven laughed and they followed the Doctor from the cell and into the corridor. Steven put his arm around Dodo's shoulder as he did so, so very pleased to see her. "Have fun did you?" he asked.

"Oh I did. Shame you spent all of the trip locked up, but better luck next time I suppose."

Steven smiled and looked back at Marlowe who was trailing on behind, still looking around him in shock and wonder. "Come on Kit, last to the TARDIS is a rotten egg."

"A rotten egg? Well that is not ideal is it?"

The Doctor was nearly knocked off his feet as all three of his young companions raced to the ship doors.

"Come on rotten egg!" Steven called to the Doctor from the doors. "We've got stuff to be seeing!"


	4. Chapter 4- A Canterbury Tale

**Part 4- The Doctor, Dodo, Steven and Marlowe find themselves confronting a strange green mist within the depths of Canterbury Cathedral.**

There was the sound of music in the distance as Dodo excitedly poked her head around the TARDIS doors and sniffed the air. She coughed. She was then shoved by Steven who was growing impatient of lingering in the doorway, so she let him and Marlowe pass her by and out into the open air. Finally the Doctor joined them after he'd finished checks in the machine and was certain it was safe outside.

"The air's not as clean as I hoped," Dodo said as she took a deep breath. As soon as she exhaled, her breath could be seen lingering in the cold winter air. "But there's definitely a fine beat going." She bopped from side to side as her hips moved to the rhythm of the music in the distance.

The Doctor was already examining the street in front of him as Steven looked around making sure they weren't being watched. Dodo pointed into the distance. "Look!"

The Doctor, Steven, and Marlowe looked up at the same time, glancing to where their young friend was pointing at the almighty structure towering into the clouds.

"It's Canterbury Cathedral," Marlowe said slowly. His eyes watered as his mouth hung open in surprise. "Am I back to my time, Steven, am I back?"

Panic crept into Christopher Marlowe's voice as he stared at the magnificent cathedral in the distance. He stammered for a few moments before he was almost knocked off his feet by a woman on a bicycle. The woman cursed as she rode away, annoyed for him standing in the middle of the cycle path. Steven helped Marlowe to steady himself and they headed onto the main pavement which led onto the high street of what appeared to be a city centre crammed with shops and eateries.

Marlowe gazed at the hullabaloo around him. It was the city he grew up in, and yet he could barely recognise it- the people and the buildings were so different. There were tall buildings with coloured signs hanging in their many windows and there was little wooden huts lined with green trimming and red bows. People scattered around the centre like mice and they all seemed to be carrying parcels and bags of items around with them.

"I'd say we're long after your time my boy, and Christmas it seems," the Doctor said, patting Marlowe's shoulder.

"Are you alright, Kit?" Steven asked.

Marlowe nodded. "Yes. What year is it?"

The Doctor rubbed his chin. "Well at a guess I'd say it was after Dodo's time, quite possibly around the turn of the 21st century."

"Fab!" Dodo exclaimed.

"I've never seen the cathedral," Steven said as he narrowed his eyes at the landmark. "By my time it's concealed in a large dome, half in ruins by the Dalek invasion force that decimated Canterbury on its way to London."

"An invasion force obliterated Canterbury?" Marlowe questioned sadly. "The Spanish was it?"

"Well, this is far into your future and nothing for you to worry about young man," the Doctor said. "You'll learn soon enough that travelling aboard my ship takes a bit of getting used to. Of course some take to it easier than others."

He glanced at Dodo who had joined them almost in a daze and barely had had time to take in the magnitude of what was happening to her. Sometimes he still wasn't sure; even after all they'd been through, whether Dodo quite understood the seriousness of adventuring.

He sighed when he noticed she was already talking to a couple of people carrying shopping bags.

"Excuse me, what year is it?" Dodo asked them.

The man laughed. "I know I'm getting on a bit, but I haven't lost my marbles just yet!"

"Is it the 20th century or the 21st?"

"It's 2015, why don't you know that?" the woman asked, surprised at the strange group of people in front of her. She eyed the Doctor's Edwardian outfit. "Oh I see, you're entertainers playing along, how delightful!"

"Yes, yes, quite so, quite so," said the Doctor as he approached them. "Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas."

He nodded at the couple and then ushered Dodo away and gathered his companions together by a nearby bench which too was decorated in an assortment of tinsel.

Dodo clapped her hands together in excitement. "2015, how fab! I still might be alive and kicking. If I catch a train I can go to London and meet myself."

"You're staying where we can keep an eye on you," Steven told her as his eyes cast down upon her with his 'older brother protectiveness' expression. "Do you think we could have a look around a bit though, Doctor? Kit may like to see what's changed in the last few hundred years."

Marlowe nodded in favour of Steven's suggestion. "Now I know I'm not going to be carted off to prison I shall like to see the city where my life began and was shaped."

"Very well," the Doctor began. "It can't hurt to have a look around."

…

Dodo raised an eyebrow at the Doctor as the two of them separated from Steven and Marlowe and made their way onto the main high street.

"Why is your face pulling that bizarre expression? What is it you have to say?" the Doctor asked.

"Well you can't ignore Kit forever. You have to get to know him sometime."

"As I've told you before I have nothing against the man personally. I just felt Steven wanted to go with him, they seem to have become quite good friends."

Dodo was distracted and stared up above her. She pointed to the sky, tugging at the Doctor's sleeve as she did so. "Doctor, what is that strange green mist in the air?"

The Doctor looked upwards and his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I've never seen anything as pretty," Dodo exclaimed. "Is it something normal that will happen in my future?"

The Doctor scratched his chin, considering for a moment. "No my dear, this is indeed very peculiar. In fact, I think we should investigate- it seems to be coming from the direction of the cathedral. Now my dear, would you like to do some detective work with me?"

Dodo linked her arm through his. "I'd love to."

…

Christopher Marlowe sat in the middle of Canterbury town centre next to the theatre that was named after him. Tears filled his eyes as he stared at the sign on the building that displayed his name in silver letters, and watched as people flocked into the building at an alarming rate. Even stranger was the plaque outside the theatre that listed his birth and death dates. To the world he'd died in 1593, but he was alive in 2015. Life was never going to be the same again.

Steven noticed that his friend was quiet and sat down beside him on the steps leading to the theatre. "Maybe I shouldn't have brought you here."

"To a theatre named after me, a place in my honour, hundreds of years after I died?"

Steven patted his friend on the shoulder. "But doesn't it show how much your work is respected?"

"It shows that it's gone hundreds of years and that everybody thought I'd died in 1593. I'm but a mere ghost wandering the streets of Canterbury."

"You're alive, Kit."

"Am I? I don't feel it."

"In this time, though it seems primitive by the time I'm from, is clearly safer for you than your own."

Marlowe was about to reply when he spotted two men walking hand in hand which was followed by a brief subtle kiss. His eyes widened in surprise. "Are such displays of affection between two men so openly accepted in the future?"

"No, not always, not everywhere. But sometimes in some places."

"But everyone is dressed so garishly. And what are all these illuminations that hang around us like angel halos?"

"They're Christmas lights I imagine," Steven said. "It must be the lead up to the big day. It's busy because of all these shoppers." He looked up at the theatre behind him. "Looks like its panto season too!"

…

Dodo snuggled up to the Doctor's shoulder as they made their way to the cathedral hand in hand. The winter chill was in full force and Dodo regretted not taking another jumper from the extensive TARDIS wardrobe.

"Oh I love Christmas time, well not the actual day, that's a right bore, but the lead up, the carol singers and all the Christmas trees and delicious food. Do you celebrate it, Doctor?"

"Well I suppose I've studied it at some length, among the other religious holidays, traditions, winter solstices on many a place, country, region or planet. Still the patterns emerge throughout."

"You'd make a jolly old Father Christmas."

"Yes, well don't go getting any ideas my dear. I'm not sure red suits me!"

…

Steven and Marlowe walked through the high street, neither talking to one another, instead looking around at their surroundings as they tried desperately not to walk into the people walking in the opposite direction. Marlowe had never seen the city so busy and he'd never seen so many places to buy things, like food and clothing and even holes in the wall where money spilled out as easily as water from a pump.

They both had their cold hands in their coat pockets and their hair blowing in the wintery breeze. Neither of them said anything for a moment or two until finally Steven broke the silence.

"It's bloody freezing," he said. "All these people and the crowds don't make much difference." As he said the words, he realised that Marlowe had stopped a few paces behind.

He joined him as Kit looked intrigued at a music band playing a song on their own instruments by the side of the road, in front of some shops.

"Music and theatre upon the very streets. I love this atmosphere, so very merry."

"Its strange music," said Steven quietly. "But I see what you mean."

"The music is unlike anything I've heard, and the instruments strange, but live entertainment is always the best."

Steven smiled. "Come on Kit, as nice as this is we better find out where the Doctor and Dodo are."

"Do we always go by his schedule?"

"If you know what's best for you, you do."

Marlowe's eyes sparkled in wonder. "I still can't believe these streets are where I grew up. It seems like another life."

"It is another life. I never imagined I'd find myself travelling back in time, but such is the life with the Doctor."

"And if you hadn't, we'd have never met, dear Steven. I count myself very lucky indeed."

…

As Steven had predicted, the Doctor and Dodo were to be found at the entrance to the cathedral, waiting in a queue at the ticket booth. Steven waved at his two companions and they smiled, signalling them over to join them to get tickets.

"I didn't realise we were taking a tour," Steven said as they stood in line with their friends.

"We're not really," the Doctor said, leaning in close to the two men. He whispered. "We're investigating that strange green mist that hangs over the cathedral like a spectre of some kind."

Marlowe and Steven looked into the sky at the same time, and both gasped in astonishment as they noticed the green mist eerily gracing the skyline. What was even stranger was how people seemed to be ignoring it. Steven himself hadn't even spotted the strange glow until the Doctor had mentioned it and he was starting to think that people were too busy to even notice the differences anymore, too caught up in Christmas shopping and all the chaos of Earth life.

"Is this a common occurrence in my future, light orbs in the sky?" asked Marlowe, surprised.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, my boy, certainly not. There is a strange phenomenon here that I want to get to the bottom of."

Steven nodded and as soon as they had arrived inside the cathedral, the Doctor was suggesting they split up and search around as much as they could.

"It seems like there's areas that we can't go in," Steven said pointing to a 'no entry' sign on one of the partitions.

The Doctor chuckled. "Well, we may just have to not tell anyone hmm?"

Steven sighed, knowing full well the Doctor was going to get them into trouble. He placed his hands on his hips and leaned in close. "Alright, alright, so what's the plan?"

"I say we go off and just find this strange mist thing," Dodo said hastily. "No use standing around like idiots. Come on Steven, we'll go this way." She pointed to the right which led around one side of the cathedral.

"And the Doctor and Kit take the left I suppose," said Steven.

The Doctor and Marlowe glanced at one another quickly, knowing why their friends had put them in each other's company, but not exactly revelling in the awkwardness of them having to bond with one another. The Doctor shook away his personal feelings and agreed, giving Marlowe a quick smile.

"I want to meet back at the entrance in an hour," the Doctor said wagging his finger at Steven. "Any dangers…well you come and find me, do you understand?"

Steven nodded and then turned to his newest friend. "Kit, are you going to be alright?"

"Steven, I'm fine, I can do some things without you, you know? You have to let me work things out for myself."

Steven smiled shyly. "Of course."

…

The direction Marlowe and the Doctor had taken was rather empty despite it being an area the public were allowed to venture into. Marlowe felt his heart thumping in his chest, not really knowing what they were going to find in the depths of an old cathedral. He wasn't sure if he believed in ghosts and spirits but there was definitely something frightening about hunting for something which you didn't know existed.

"Do you think this mist could be dangerous, some poison perhaps?" Marlowe asked the Doctor as the old man took a breather. Noticing the Doctor was breathless, Marlowe steadied him.

The Doctor looked at the young man curiously, his eyes narrowed. "Intelligent," he said. "It could very well be dangerous or a toxic gas of some kind, though no one seems to be affected by it so far so that could just be a worse case scenario."

"You're surprised that I have a brain inside my head, Doctor, for I am not some backwards man from the 16th century with no idea of the advancements of every century to follow?"

"I think nothing of the sort dear boy. Experience with a variety of travellers from completely different eras has led me to never be surprised by the capabilities of humans."

Marlowe raised a curious eyebrow. "You say at as if you're not one yourself."

The Doctor smiled cunningly and didn't reply. Marlowe was shocked, he'd never thought the Doctor himself was anything other than human, and Steven hadn't mentioned it. Of course the old man had access to an alien machine that could take one into the past and future and to other worlds, but for Marlowe, he had never expected the inventor to also have been alien, to have been the most different of them all.

"Doctor, one thing I wanted to ask. Your life is full of contradictions. Your ship is new and white and futuristic and yet Steven tells me your clothes are old and unfitting to their time. You are wise and uncertain and yet the rebel in your heart calls out. You do not fit in, just as I do not."

The Doctor turned back to face him. "I don't think our lives are quite the same my dear boy, but I appreciate the sentiment."

"You don't much approve of me do you, Doctor?"

"It's not a matter of approval, I'm sure you're a capable man Mr. Marlowe, but the fact remains you were never meant to be here. Steven was risky in allowing you the trip."

"I realise that, but he thought it was for the best. Is it wrong for me to come with you but not for Steven or the others you have taken as companions?"

"It's entirely different."

"Why? They too were from other times and they too were taken into the future. This is Dodo's future and yet I see no protest from you for how her life has changed."

The Doctor thought for a moment, pursing his lips and nodding along as if he understood. "You're right my dear man, yes, these things are true. But as dear to me as Dodo is or Steven, I don't personally know about their lives or what is to be."

"So because you have heard of me it's somehow different. I don't see how that works, Doctor."

"Mr. Marlowe, this discussion could go on for hours, we do have a job to do, let's look behind this dusty old alter hmmm?"

The Doctor led Marlowe to the location he had pointed out and they peered curiously around the area, looking for any unusual signs.

"You know you can call me Kit now, I think our relationship has developed to first name terms."

The Doctor smiled. "Yes, Kit, fine, do you hear a noise?"

They both fell silent, listening carefully. "I think it's a group of fellow tourists, Doctor."

The Doctor sighed with relief. For all the times he was used to sneaking around, he was jumpy even when he wasn't technically in restricted locations, always ready for an answer to explain his snooping.

"I believe you're right Kit, carry on."

…

Steven found Dodo's pace hard to keep up with, even with his good fitness level.

"Would you slow down?"

"The quicker we find this strange green mist, the quicker we can go out and enjoy the 21st century."

"It'll still be there when we finish."

"How can you be sure?" Dodo said, staring up at him. "If that mist is aliens, they could wipe out the world in five seconds flat."

Steven laughed lightly. "You're very optimistic aren't you? I was born after this time, let's hope that's a worst case scenario but if I disappear suddenly then you'll know your right eh?"

"I'm only pulling your leg. I don't think some mist is likely to be hostile do you? And they might not be aliens at all. Maybe it's just like the northern lights or something, just over Canterbury that's all."

"Or maybe its just some Christmas display, I mean it is green. Not that I'm much of a Christmas enthusiast."

"Well, I'd love to see a Christmas display," Dodo said as she hugged herself for warmth. "Dancers- and people dressed up."

"You'd make a good elf that's a given."

"I would as a matter of fact. The Doctor could be Father Christmas, Kit could be a cute reindeer- you could be Scrooge."

Steven smirked. "I'm sorry, I suppose it can't hurt to get into the spirit more." He put his arm around Dodo's shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. "I promise I'll stop with the bossy big brother act and after this we'll have some fun ok?"

"Deal."

There was a sudden high-pitched noise and Steven and Dodo instinctively huddled closer together, looking around trying to find where the noise could have come from. They listened again but the noise had stopped. Just as Steven was about to give up and lead them away from the room, he saw a sparkle of green light from the corner of his eye.

"Dodo," he whispered, pointing to where he could see the green glow emulating from behind another door marked 'no entry'. Dodo stared at the light in fascination. She began making the way toward the door, feeling both excited and terrified at the same time as to what was lurking behind. She felt Steven's hands on her arm trying to lead her back but she shook him off so that he had no choice but to follow her. They took the next few footsteps toward the door together and as they reached the handle, the green was even more vivid, sort of like the eerie green colour from the science fiction comics Dodo had seen in her own time- tales of crashed spaceships letting out a vibrant green aura. Steven pushed in front of Dodo and cautiously he reached for the handle and pulled it open slowly. Once the door was flung open and nothing greeted them on the other side, they slid into the room carefully and were plunged into semi-darkness.

"It's a bit dark in here," Dodo said.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Steven said as he rubbed his hand through his thick unruly locks. "We can't exactly see what's approaching us if you see what I mean."

"Approaching us?" Dodo said. "I don't like the way you said that!"

Steven's hands gripped around Dodo's shoulders, standing behind her in a protective manner, searching around the room for any kind of light. Just as he was about to suggest leaving, the green light intensified and the two friends could make out a shape coming towards them. Dodo yelped quietly as she realised the shape was glittery and sparkly and was hovering along the floor, it certainly wasn't a human.

"Who are you?" Steven asked as he moved to the side of Dodo. "What are you doing in here?"

Dodo wondered why Steven was talking to it. Could it even talk, it wasn't even humanoid or fully formed? The shape moved slightly towards them and sifted like a mist between the two of them, forcing them to separate in surprise.

"Hey what's the meaning of this?" Steven snapped, forgetting the danger they were in.

"Don't annoy him Steven," Dodo whispered before she turned back to the strange being. "We're not here to hurt you, we just want to help."

The being stopped its high-pitched squeaking noise for a minute and then rather suddenly a loud screech rung out and the being headed in the direction of Steven, barrelling down on him. Dodo wanted to scream but felt nothing escape her dry lips as she saw the being head right for Steven's body and then disappear. Steven's body shook erratically- he'd obviously been hurt in some way.

"Steven!" Dodo screamed as she raced over to him and held him upright. "Are you alright, what did that thing do to you?"

"I don't know." Steven's voice was quiet.

"Where did it go?" Dodo asked flummoxed. She was about to examine him to make sure he wasn't injured but then she saw that his eyes had turned a bright luminous green.

"Oh my god!" she said, backing away slightly. "Steven? What's happened to you? You're inside of him, aren't you?"

"Yes," said the eerie reply from Steven's mouth.

Steven began approaching her with his arms outstretched. Dodo turned and sprinted for the door, turning the handle and running as far as she could into the room outside. She slammed the door behind her and gasped for breath.

"Doctor! Doctor!" she called. "Where are you?"

…

It didn't take too long for Marlowe and the Doctor to be alerted to Dodo's cries for help and as they arrived the Doctor hushed her in case of anyone listening to what she had discovered.

"What's the matter?" the Doctor asked calmly.

"It's Steven, I mean it isn't Steven," she said with one breath. "I mean, some weird green thing just went into Steven and he's in that room, both of them."

"A being possessed him you mean?" Marlowe asked.

"Yes, I think so. He tried to grab me so I legged it."

The Doctor comforted her and scratched his chin. "So our concerns were well founded."

"Yes, and Steven's at the mercy of whatever it is," said Marlowe.

The Doctor couldn't help but notice the fear in Marlowe's voice.

"Not to worry young man, Steven is a strong capable person, I'm sure he'll come to no harm. First things first, we must confront this thing once and for all. Dodo, open the door and let me go first."

Kit and Dodo grasped hands as they cautiously followed the Doctor into the room. It was barely seconds after they'd all entered when Steven reached out for them with his arms outstretched. The Doctor raised his walking stick in the air.

"Stop there, whoever you are. I need to have a word with you," he said with more authority than Marlowe had ever heard from anyone in his entire life.

Steven stopped still, his green eyes staring at his three friends. It was hard for them to see whether Steven was still Steven when he was being controlled in the way he was.

The Doctor puffed his chest out. "What is it you want here and what is it you want with Steven?"

"We are here," Steven said in his usual voice but with a slight dull tone to it. "We are here to observe. I am lost, I am lost."

"Oh no, lost," Dodo said. "It's alone, Doctor, all alone."

"Yes child, thank you. You are cut off from your people are you hmm? Well that is unfortunate but stealing my friend's body is not called for is it?"

"It is necessary."

"For what?" Marlowe asked, slightly unnerved and directing the question at Steven, knowing it wasn't his friend answering back.

"To meet up with the others."

"Necessary?" the Doctor said examining Steven and the room at the same time. "Why must you use Steven to get back to your people?"

"He was here and I needed him."

"I see." The Doctor scratched his chin. "You can't go outside can you? It's dangerous for you there, or polluted, toxic?"

Steven nodded his head simply. "I cannot exist in the cold winter air. Our bodies are not physical like yours."

"What about that green mist?" Dodo asked. "Is that you?"

"We are green mist to you but to each other we are much more. I must contact the others, I have no choice."

The Doctor sighed. "But every second you inhabit my friend you are draining him. He may crack under the strain."

"I am sorry but I have no choice."

Marlowe was shocked. "You mean its going to kill Steven?"

The Doctor frowned. "Quite possibly my dear boy, quite possibly- if he isn't removed as hostage."

"Then you'll have to find some other way to your people," Marlowe shouted. "Steven has done nothing wrong. We can help you somehow but we are not going to let you take him."

"Do you know what its like to be cut off?" Steven said. "I must find my people."

The Doctor approached his companion and laid a friendly hand on him. "I understand your predicament but I cannot let you take him. You'll have to leave his body immediately and then we can talk about what you can do."

"You can take my body," Marlowe said. "Let him go and use me instead."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Just what we need, heroics."

"Well what else? And what does it matter for me. I was meant to be dead, Doctor. The people of this city think I died over four hundred years ago."

"You can't just offer yourself," Dodo pleaded. "You're alive now and just as important. Steven would never let you risk yourself."

"I need to get to my people before they leave, I haven't much time," the alien inside Steven said.

"Well where are your people?" the Doctor said, becoming tetchy. "Show them to me. You don't have much longer before I take action."

Steven's eyes blazed greener. "Directly above, in the ship, my people have emitted a gas but I was lost inside this cathedral and cannot escape the building without a vessel. You were the first to arrive inside this room. Most of these people ignored me, the mist, we were unnoticed but somehow you knew where to find me."

The Doctor paced the room, pursing his lips together. "Then asking would have been your best option my dear fellow. Why it's quite simple."

"It is?" Marlowe asked, surprised. Steven had been right- he really was a very sharp and wise man. Up to this point he'd never seen him really take charge or show just how clever he was, but it was obvious he was intelligent and cared about Steven, even if Steven didn't see it.

"My ring!" the Doctor chuckled. "It can carry you completely safely back to my ship and we can contact your people from there."

"What that costume jewellery?" Dodo said before stopping when she noticed the Doctor glaring at her.

"It's a trick," Steven replied slowly.

"I can assure you this is no trick," the Doctor said. "Do you think I'd risk my young companions for a scam? No, this ring is a vessel of its own you know. It's a very special ring and if you allow me, I will carry you. Go on, try it out."

Marlowe and Dodo watched in anticipation as the strange green mist departed from Steven's body and circled around the Doctor. Within seconds Steven became aware of his surroundings and the ring pulsated with a green glow.

"There we are," the Doctor said to the ring on his finger. "Stay tight, it won't take long."

"Steven, are you alright?" Dodo asked as she checked his eyes to see they were no longer vivid green.

"I'm fine. I don't know what happened. Where are we?"

"We can talk about that later," the Doctor said. "We must get our little guest back to its own people."

"What people?" Steven asked with confusion.

"I'll explain on the way back," Marlowe said. "It's good to have the real you here with us again."

"The real me?"

…

Watching on the scanner, the Doctor and his friends observed the alien spaceship depart from the atmosphere and out into the stars where they belonged. Dodo whooped excitedly as she glanced at the television screen.

"Oh I know the creature went about it in the wrong way but I did feel sorry for him."

"He was just alone I suppose," the Doctor said. "We act in strange ways sometimes when we are cut off and unsure of our surroundings."

Marlowe looked at the Doctor and wondered what secrets he was hiding. Did he have first hand experience of loneliness and isolation? Was that something that came with travelling with the Doctor? Only time would tell.

…

The Doctor and Dodo had retired to their rooms after their encounter with the alien and had relished the idea of some sleep. Steven bought Marlowe a cup of hot chocolate which prompted a smile from the playwright.

"This brown liquid is delicious," he said as he sipped the drink. "I think I'm going to get quite fat travelling with you. And what are these little things floating on the top of the beverage?"

"Now don't tell me they didn't have marshmallows in your time, now you really were missing out!"

Marlowe laughed and ate one of the little treats. "The consistency of a cloud and rather sugary and sweet but I like it," he said looking at Steven and smiling. "I like the marshmallows too."

Steven laughed but then his face turned serious. "I'm sorry we didn't get to see the rest of Canterbury, Kit. I know you wanted to think about the past."

"That's quite alright. I was pleased to see what became of the city. I never quite expected to see an alien in it though. My first alien I suppose, albeit a rather strange non-bodied one."

Steven smiled. "Though not technically your first alien- that would be the Doctor."

Marlowe put down his drink and let out a chuckle. "Oh I wondered if that were true. So the first alien I ever meet was an ordinary man with funny hair and funny clothes?"

"You write too many plays Kit," Steven said as he took a sip of his drink. "You keep expecting the strange and the bizarre."

Marlowe smiled and looked at Steven. "The Doctor is quite something. Dodo is lovely too. You're quite a team I must say."

"I suppose we are," Steven said and he shook Marlowe's hand vigorously. "But don't forget that includes a certain Mr. Kit Marlowe now."


	5. Chapter 5- The City of Millenius

**Part 5- The Doctor and his friends arrive on the planet Marinus but tensions are high between Steven and Marlowe.**

The make-shift stage in the TARDIS was erected in the middle of the console room using an assortment of wooden and metal boxes that were stored for no purpose whatsoever in another part of the ship. The stage was rather uneven and Steven had instructed everyone to tread carefully to avoid any mishaps. The Doctor sat on his favourite chair, reclining slightly as he watched his companions setting up some props onto the stage. He chuckled as he saw Dodo rush past several times to set things up. Dressed as a boy in a page outfit, she almost reminded him of Vicki with her already short hair hidden under a pointy hat, and he was amused by her enthusiasm as she got ready for their performance that was written by their very own playwright friend Christopher Marlowe.

The Doctor clapped as the cast came onto the stage together and Marlowe looked very handsome in a tunic and tights, clearly more comfortable in fashions from his own time rather than the modern items he'd been forced to wear from the TARDIS wardrobe. Steven on the other hand was less than impressed with the role Marlowe had assigned him to and wandered onto the front of the stage with a terrible posture that was un-befitting of the character he was playing (a well-to-do lady about town). He pulled his skirt into place and adjusted his long ringlet curled wig which was making him itch like he'd never experienced before. He didn't even want to imagine what the lipstick Dodo had put on him looked like.

Dodo bowed and then cleared her throat as she stood centre stage. "Ladies and gentleman," she began, ignoring the fact the Doctor was the only one watching. "Our story begins one wintry night on a distant world…"

…

"Doctor what do you mean you've been here before?" Steven said as he tried to keep up with the old man who seemed to be walking at double speed across the city to annoy him.

"Just that, my boy," the Doctor harrumphed, finally stopping beside a grand door outside some kind of metal complex. It had clearly been his destination all along.

"Well would you mind telling us mere mortals what this place is and why you seem so interested?"

Dodo and Marlowe exchanged glances. Marlowe was getting used to the set up now. They'd arrive somewhere, Steven and the Doctor would bicker and then when they'd finished arguing they'd have an adventure which normally resulted in great danger or at least some kind of intrigue. He had been travelling for what he assumed had been a few weeks but it was difficult to tell in a time machine and he'd still not gotten used to the feeling of being a wanderer. He often felt like the village idiot when he didn't understand the advancements of the human race. He'd been lectured on trains, aeroplanes, and any vehicle known to man as well as a brush up on religion, politics and war. He'd even been schooled on computers and technology though this was the segment that confused him the most, so complicated and hard to grasp the very concept. He was taking in so much information at once and his brain couldn't keep up. With everything he was learning- there was barely enough time to really stop and take in what it meant and what he was experiencing. Sometimes when he did think about certain advancements, he felt a sense of shock, as though he was drifting above his own body and were in a dream.

But this time they were not on Earth, they were on another world entirely and all he had learnt meant nothing in this new place. There were new rules and new customs and new everything to contend with, and there was comfort in that. He knew as much about it as Steven and Dodo did and for once he wasn't alone in his feeling of being out of his depth. Though for Steven, a man from the future, there was always the chance he knew more just by experience, as did the Doctor.

"We're in Millenius on the planet of Marinus," the Doctor told them. "Most promising that we've arrived back here, most promising."

"When were you here before?" Dodo asked, looking up at the grand door for herself. Her eyes were suddenly diverted to look back the way they came, through a large city with skyscrapers and glass buildings and lots of futuristic looking cars. In the nightlight it looked beautiful and majestic- a thriving metropolis.

"Oh it was some time ago, my dear."

"Did you have a good time?" Dodo asked.

"Well aside from my companion nearly being executed for a crime he didn't commit I would say it was most fascinating."

Marlowe gulped. Why did everything always end up coming back to courts and crime and the law? He could tell Steven was thinking the same thing by the look he was giving him.

"Yes well let's not get in anyone's way," Steven said, looking at Dodo in particular. "I'm not going to be held in captivity again."

"Captivity is for lesser crimes, my boy. The death penalty is a tricky business here so no killing anyone hmmm?" There was a loud chuckle.

Steven rolled his eyes and smirked, looking especially at the Doctor. "I'll try but it could be difficult to resist."

Dodo tapped the Doctor repeatedly on the arm. "Yes, we know the rules, are we going to stand outside this one door all day or can we actually go in there?"

"My dear, we mustn't rush ourselves." He grabbed Dodo's hand before she had time to knock on the door and then proceeded to knock himself.

Marlowe and Steven stood behind them, waiting patiently for a response.

"Is there anybody there?" the Doctor said with a throaty bellow and before he had time to clear his throat, the door opened and he was greeted by a woman in an all in one black security suit outfit complimented with a black cape. She had a pistol on a holster and a belt with gadgetry attached.

"Are you here to work, study, or for a visit, if so, I need to see papers, documents or proof of appointment?"

The Doctor checked his pockets and frowned. He had no documentation that would help him even bluff his way inside. He thought for a moment. "I don't suppose that interrogator Tarron still works here?"

…

"Doctor?" Interrogator Tarron said as he approached the old man and his friends. "It really is you. You don't look any older than when I last saw you."

The Doctor peered carefully at Tarron and noticed immediately the flecks of grey now appearing in his dark hair. Some time had passed since his last visit, not a long stretch but certainly a decade. "I'm glad to see you still remember me."

"Well of course I do, Doctor. We don't often get murder here on Millenius. You'll be pleased to note also that after you left we had a review of the entire process of our justice system."

The Doctor smiled. "Glad to hear that. It is always wise to review our systems from time to time, make sure they are adequate and fair and just."

Tarron nodded in agreement. "And what brings you to us a second time?"

"Pure chance, but I thought I might show my friends around the complex if it's at all possible."

"Of course. I'll organise some passes and take you on a tour on my next quarterly break."

Marlowe looked at Tarron, noticing the interesting facial structure and features of the interrogator. He then looked back at Steven. "He's a handsome stranger if ever there was one," he whispered.

Steven frowned. "I was the handsome stranger to you once."

Marlowe laughed. "Are you jealous my dearest Steven?"

But Steven protested immediately. "Not jealous, no, of course I'm not. It's just seems I've been replaced in your affections."

Marlowe laughed again. "Never."

…

"I'm glad the Doctor wasn't bothered by us not wanting to take that tour with him," Steven said as he watched the old man and Dodo led away by Tarron to take a tour of the complex to see how it had changed over the years. He did feel bad for leaving Dodo to be stuck with a boring tour though he was sure she'd find a way to make it more interesting, she usually did.

"Does the Doctor like tours and studies?" Marlowe asked as they headed out of the grand gates they had entered through when they'd first arrived. The night chill hit them immediately and for a second Marlowe thought about Canterbury and the feeling he got when he walked through the cold streets as a boy with barely enough clothing to cover his freezing body. This coldness was mild compared to those days.

Steven placed his cold hands in his pockets. "The Doctor loves a chance to learn and it's a good thing but sometimes it's nice to just get out here and take in the surroundings. If being locked up has taught me one thing it's appreciate the outdoors and especially the open spaces."

Marlowe laughed and then looked into the distance. "Question is where do we appreciate first, there's so much to see?"

"Well I'm hungry, maybe a restaurant?"

"Are you taking me out to dinner?"

Steven searched around in his pockets for some of the local currency. "Well seeing as the Doctor put me in charge of the money, I guess so."

…

The restaurant they picked in Millenius was a small place situated by much larger buildings set back off the glass road. When Steven glanced around upon entering the restaurant he noticed that all the buildings in the vicinity made up a perfect circular shape. Inside the small cosy restaurant, there were metal booths, mechanical doors, and waiters who wore red capes and visors with hovering trays to place the many plates of food. The meals were served exceptionally quickly and Steven was very satisfied with the service when his order came to the table piping hot within minutes. Marlowe had opted for the same dish, not really understanding any of the things on the menu, except for words such as beef, chicken and duck.

"I quite like this strange mix of food," Marlowe noted as he shovelled another mouthful of what appeared to be white rice and some kind of spicy curry sauce into his mouth.

Just as Marlowe was about to praise the meal further, his face began to turn red and he let out a yelp of surprise. Steven looked at his friend curiously, laughing as Marlowe suddenly downed the glass of water as fast as he could.

"I think mines been poisoned!" he said, gasping for breath.

Steven laughed and ignored him, scooping up more rice onto his fork. "You'll get used to it eventually I suppose."

"Can I ask why you find this so amusing? My mouth is on fire."

"It's just spicy. This is mild compared to what I'm used to, and you should try the peppers grown in a dome on Venus if you want hot!"

Marlowe finally gulped the last of his drink and let his nerves settle again before resuming the discussion. "Well excuse me for not being up to date with all this."

"I really didn't mean anything by it. You must learn not to take it to heart."

Marlowe wiped his mouth with a serviette and then crumpled it and threw it onto the table. "I'm not taking anything to heart! But mustn't it be nice to be from the future and know everything, then it's like a game and you can make your backwards friend look like the fool?"

Steven too wiped his mouth with his serviette and got up from his seat, slamming his fists onto the table. Marlowe did the same until they were facing each other like two cowboys in the Wild West in the middle of a saloon.

"Now hang on a minute," Steven said, his eyes blazing with anger. "You're making something out of nothing; I never once thought those things. You're too sensitive."

"I'm too sensitive? Well, what would you have me be? You want me to be unfeeling, to not have a care or a worry? I don't know why you assume my reservations must mean I'm an incapable baby needing you to carry me around all day."

Steven snorted. "Well maybe you do need me."

"I don't need persistent supervision and condescending remarks."

"Well I don't need you clinging onto me every hour of the day like a little lost puppy! I don't know why you even wanted to come!"

"And I don't know why you ever asked me. I wonder sometimes Steven whether all of this wasn't for me at all but to satisfy your own obvious vanity!"

"Excuse me?"

"You feel a hero for saving me; you're repenting your sins somehow. You couldn't save those other people you travelled with and so saving me was simply a way to prove you could do it, to ease the guilt."

Steven stopped still, unable to respond to the words Marlowe had presented him with. Instead he turned his head angrily, and stepped away, refusing to talk to him further and do something he deeply regretted. Marlowe was left standing alone in the restaurant as he saw his friend leave the room and the mechanical doors slide shut in front of him. It was a good job they'd paid for the meal before they'd eaten.

…

When Steven arrived back at the complex an hour later to re-join the Doctor after the argument, he was red faced and tense, cursing under his breath. It didn't take long for Dodo to guess what had happened.

"What did you fight about?" she said shaking her head in disapproval.

"Who said we had a fight?"

"You haven't looked this annoyed since that argument with the Doctor in the TARDIS last week."

"I think perhaps Kit and I have been spending too much time together. We've inevitably started to get on each other's nerves."

The Doctor chuckled. "Well I did warn you, my boy."

"Yes, alright Doctor I could do without the lecture. I just had one of those from Kit."

"Well perhaps you need a lesson or two. Now, first things first, never mind what the fight was about. Do you know where he's gone? Is he meeting up with us later?"

Steven shuffled on the spot and then his eyes widened. "Oh no, I have no idea where he is, he might get into trouble." After he'd said it, he realised that it was exactly that kind of worrying for his friend that got him in trouble with Kit in the first place. "No, its fine, I'm sure Kit will be alright. He thinks he knows what he's doing so we'll leave him to it."

"Well let's hope so hmm?" the Doctor said, pushing his face up close to Steven's. "Let's hope so."

…

Several hours had passed and Marlowe grew bored of circling the city with no idea how to spend his time. He'd not any money, Steven had been in charge of that, and he wasn't entirely sure how things worked. He had attempted to view something on a large screen of some kind but had become frustrated with not being able to understand its complexity. It was tiresome for him, so very aggravating to be surrounded by things he wanted to understand but couldn't. And as a writer, he was in awe of everything, wanted to see what it all meant, wanted to unravel the things he saw and work out the journey of every person he encountered. But standing alone in the middle of a crowded city with people rushing around him as though he didn't exist was a frightening experience and he just didn't know how to reach out, who to talk to, who to ask. And he thought London in the 1590's had been daunting!

"Excuse me, are you alright?" said a woman's voice.

Marlowe spun around to be greeted by the security guard they'd seen when they'd first arrived at the grand door hours earlier. She was still wearing her cloak and uniform but where she had been stern and serious when they'd first met she was now smiling at him with warmth.

"You seem lost. Do you need help with anything? You're with the group I saw earlier aren't you?"

"I wanted some air," he told her. "But I'm not quite sure what to do."

The woman motioned for him to sit next to her on one of the benches off the road. "I take it you've never been to these parts before?"

"It's unlike anything I have ever imagined. I feel a little disconnected."

"Perhaps we should take a stroll back to the complex in a moment. I expect your friends are missing you."

"Worrying about me more like."

"Is that so bad?"

"It is when they think I'm incapable. I want to prove I'm worthy of travelling with them but I'm not sure that I can."

The woman seemed confused. "If you're travelling with friends then why should you prove anything? Maybe it's yourself you want to impress."

"Maybe it is. I'd not thought of that."

"All I'm saying is that maybe you're not meant to prove anything, you're just meant to be. If you can have faith in yourself it goes a long way."

Marlowe frowned. "Having little faith is certainly what started all this."

"Come on, let's get back. I'm already running late. I'm only meant to be on a lunch-break. Shall we face it together?"

…

Back at the complex, Steven was pacing to and fro around the room, running his fingers through his thick locks as he peered at the door every few moments for news. Finally, Interrogator Tarron entered the room and approached the anxious young man and stopped him in his tracks.

"The security cameras in the city centre showed your friend wandering about an hour ago and he's gone off the radar since. It seems likely that he's completely fine. He seemed capable enough to me."

The Doctor smiled. "Oh he is. He's an intelligent young man and much more than I give him credit for. Steven, my boy, there's no sense pacing. Tarron suspects he's just taking a stroll that's all."

"I know he's probably fine, it's just we had an argument and if anything was to happen…"

Dodo hugged him sideways. "It's not going to. Kit is worldlier than you Steven. Imagine what kinds of things he's dealt with from his own time period and the kind of prejudices too."

Steven nodded but didn't respond as at that moment the door swung open and Marlowe and the security guard entered the room, laughing together.

"Everyone you must meet Della, she's delightful," Marlowe said. "She kept me company for the last hour and told me all about this wonderful city and some of its history." He looked at Tarron and winked. "She also told me a lot about your little secrets."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh lighten up Tarron," Della said. "I didn't say anything that we don't all know already."

Tarron shuffled uncomfortably on the spot. "Well, never mind what you did or didn't say- I'm relieved that Marlowe has returned safe and well."

"Did you doubt my survival abilities?" Marlowe asked, directing the question at Steven rather than Tarron. For a moment it was like he had taken over as role of interrogator.

The Doctor looked back and forth at the two men and coughed lightly. "Well, now, I do think we should get on with that tour. There were still one or two rooms left to see. Come along Dodo, come along Tarron, Della."

Steven watched the Doctor and the others leave before he approached Marlowe. "I know you think I'm babying you but I am glad you're alright."

"So you do doubt my ability to take care of myself?"

"No! Stop putting words in my mouth. I have never thought that. I know I'm over-protective, I always have been. I was like it with Dodo and I was like it with Vicki who travelled with us before. I don't mean to be insulting. I do it because I care."

"Then believe me when I say I am alright. I know I seem lost sometimes and overwhelmed but you don't have to worry about me. I'll catch up with everything eventually. You and Dodo adapted in time and I intend to do the same even if it takes a little longer."

Steven smiled. "I'm sorry about the things I said, I didn't mean them."

"Yes you did."

"Well, not in the way I said them anyway. You deserve better. We've all been through a lot. It isn't a competition that's for sure."

"I appreciate the apology."

"When you've lost the amount of people I have, you tend to assume the worst."

Marlowe held out his hand and waited for Steven to shake it. When their hands met they then hugged, slapping each other heartily.

"Still first in your affections?" Steven asked. "Or has interrogator Tarron knocked me down a place?"

"Ah that would be telling now wouldn't it?"

They both laughed.

…

Dodo, Steven, and Marlowe held hands upon the stage and bowed as the performance came to an end. The Doctor clapped vigorously and let out a cheer as he did so.

"Very engaging. You're quite the wordsmith Mr. Marlowe. I think you make quite an addition to the team."

Marlowe smiled at the compliment. It was the first time the Doctor had seen him as more than a friend of Steven's and as someone with his own merits and personality. Perhaps Marlowe was finally making his mark as a member of team TARDIS and perhaps finally Marlowe could feel at ease with himself. Just because he hadn't single-handedly defeated an alien nemesis didn't mean he didn't have purpose.

"And what did you think of me?" Dodo asked the Doctor, hoping for rave reviews and not wanting to be left out of the lime-light.

"Splendid, my dear, splendid. No problem with your speech volume at all."

"And me?" Steven asked. He was still feeling embarrassed being dressed as a woman but was curious to know of his performance.

"My boy, you need a lot more work. I was not convinced you played a woman accurately. Maybe next time I will show you how it's done, after all, we can't show Marlowe up can we hmmm? He's a famous playwright after all."

Marlowe bowed for a second time, letting out a big grin as he did so. "The curtain falls. Our players bid goodnight and exit stage left, but we shall re-join next time for another adventure."


	6. Chapter 6- The Space Race

Part 6- **The Doctor enters Steven in a space race but Marlowe suspects foul play from a group of spectators.**

The doors of the TARDIS opened and the Doctor and Dodo exited arm in arm. Steven and Marlowe walked casually on behind as they watched their two friends disappear ahead into a long queue of people. Marlowe looked around and observed that they appeared to have landed on some sort of observation deck, not so different from his first trip in time and space (the trip which had seen them thrown in prison.)

There were glass windows all the way around the circular shaped building of the deck, and the floor was made of some kind of shimmering metal. Marlowe was getting used to recognising some of the new materials now and realised that without ever noticing it before- he was constantly learning.

He sighed as he witnessed the Doctor scurry away and wondered why he had rushed off again, always hurrying on as if he had no time at all. Sometimes he thought he would never keep up with the old man and that he was destined to always be a step behind.

"Doctor," Steven called after him, but when he didn't reply he looked at Marlowe and sighed. "Oh where's he gone now?"

Steven stood on his tiptoes, trying to not lose the Doctor in the crowd of people that had gathered on the observation deck as though some grand event was taking place. He decided to keep away from the crowd, realising the Doctor and Dodo would come back eventually to get them- and anyway he much preferred standing out of the hullabaloo. He stood next to Marlowe instead and the two men gazed at the sight before them.

"Beautiful," Marlowe said.

"I suppose you've never seen a sight like it."

Outside there were dozens upon dozens of small crafts lined up, each in an individual and vibrant colour with its own emblem of some kind painted on the side. Steven could see a finish line in the distance, and was now aware that it was an event which was a space race of some kind and that the large crowd on the deck were the excited spectators. The observation deck ran all the way around the course of the race which went on for what seemed like ages. As Steven stared ahead out of the window, his eyes drifted to nowhere in particular and he went into a trance.

Memories flooded his mind. The first thing that he thought of was the celebration after a victory he had had when he was eighteen years old and had been a newly trained pilot. He'd received praise in the Earth Olympics piloting competition and therefore he and a team of fellow pilots had been selected as representatives for Earth in the intergalactic space race which took place near Mars every five years. It had been such an honour for him, and he'd been quite famous. He'd certainly never told the Doctor, Dodo, and Marlowe that he'd been a celebrity for a while but he remembered the feeling that people were proud of him.

"Steven!"

He felt a hand on his shoulder and spun around abruptly to find Dodo standing behind him, prodding him. "Oh, there you are."

"Are you alright Steven?" Marlowe asked as he watched his friend snap out of his apparent daydream. "You've been out of it for a few minutes."

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just this place brings back a lot of memories for me."

"It's fab though isn't it?" Dodo said looking out of the window. "It's gonna be a real race! The Doctor said kind of like the Grand Prix but on spaceships."

Steven laughed even though he hadn't the faintest idea what a 'Grand Prix' was. He put his arm around her shoulder and pointed to one of the shuttlecrafts. "That one there is one of the first kinds of ships I ever piloted."

"Really?" Dodo asked, fascinated. "Wouldn't mind having a go at one of those myself!"

"It takes years of training."

"That's what the Doctor said."

"Yes I did," the Doctor said with a smile as he appeared behind his three friends, holding what looked like some sort of leisure pamphlet and map. "Much too dangerous for you, young lady. Steven on the other hand, well he's a natural. In fact, so much so, that he's bound to win this race."

Steven snorted. "I'm not going to win because I'm not entering any race."

The Doctor chuckled. "Of course you are, dear boy, it's settled and I've got you a ship. A little fun could do us all a world of good. And Mr. Marlowe has yet to see you in action."

"I'd very much like to see you in action," Marlowe said, smiling.

Steven gave him a wry glance. "I'm sure you would. But Doctor it's been a long time!"

"Oh go on Steven," Dodo said eagerly. "I want to see you in action too- you can be a real Dan Dare."

Steven's head lowered and he sighed, feeling all his friends were ganging up on him. He wanted to argue with them but he didn't have the energy for more fighting. He noticed they were all staring at him, waiting for his response. "Alright, just this once."

But he wasn't going to be happy about it.

…

The Doctor, Dodo, Marlowe and Steven stood in the queue for registration of the hired racing crafts. Dodo and the Doctor stood together, discussing the course the race would take which of course Steven would be at immediate disadvantage of, being that he was new to the region of space and had only a few hours before the race was due to commence. Steven sighed. Was he really ready for all this?

"You look as though you hate this," Marlowe said. "I thought this flying lark was Steven Taylor's great passion."

"It is, well it was, well I still…look, it's not a question of it not being my passion its just a lot of things have happened over the years and I don't know if I'm ready. The last time I flew my own craft like this I crashed."

"I see. But that was an external force wasn't it? You told me it was an electrical storm that bought you down on that planet and not through piloting error?"

"Yes, but that makes no difference does it?"

Marlowe nodded. "So you're suffering with the memory of the crash and what happened after. Well, if you have fears why not just tell the Doctor that?"

"He'd be disappointed I suppose, so would Dodo."

"I don't believe they'd worry about that if you told them the truth, unless of course you are scared but deep down you'd love to get back in the skies."

Steven paused and looked around him at the other space ships in various brightly coloured designs. "I'll admit it's exciting."

"I think you're frightened my dearest Steven and its not because you don't want to do it, it's because you do want to. And you don't want to fail. Come on, I'll look out for you. I say get out there and have a right old time of it."

Steven hesitated and then let out a smile. "Well I guess with three of you looking out for me things should be alright."

"You're the master of this skill so the Doctor's informs me, you have a good chance."

"Well now that's definitely true. I've won before I can do it again."

…

"I'm not sure about this Doctor," Steven said as he and Dodo got their things together ready to make their way to the ship for the race. Steven had been less than enthusiastic when the Doctor told him he was to take Dodo along for the ride- he was nervous enough piloting when he only had to worry about himself, but with a passenger he felt decidedly uneasy as if he was going to let harm come to her unintentionally. But the race required a pilot and a passenger so he had little choice.

"Oh it'll be fun, Steven," Dodo said, giving him a sideways hug. "And remember when we were aboard that ark ship ages ago, you said you'd fly me somewhere one day."

"You did do that my boy," the Doctor said, smiling with glee and ruffling Dodo's hair.

Steven laughed. Why did the Doctor always remember the things he didn't want him to, and forget the things that he wanted him to remember?

…

As the travellers came face to face with Steven's temporary craft there were excited faces all around. For the Doctor it was a chance to get to see the space-ship up close and personal, for Dodo it was the chance to finally get to see one for real, not just like in the films she'd seen at the cinema. For Marlowe, even seeing any kind of flying machine was a new experience and so he was quite overcome when he saw the shiny red space craft only a few paces away from him.

Steven stroked the side of the machine tenderly. "It needs a name of course. I can't fly a ship without a name. What shall we call it?"

"Well my boy, you're the pilot, you get naming privileges," the Doctor said.

"I think we ought to let Marlowe name it, he's the wordsmith out of us."

Marlowe smiled. He was extremely grateful at the honour, especially as it was something that was important to Steven. And if it was important to Steven then it was important to him too.

"Well how about Queen Dodo as a reference to the classical figure of Queen Dido in my play?"

Dodo's face lit up with excitement. "Oh yes, I like that suggestion."

The Doctor and Steven exchanged glances, both smirking slightly.

"Alright, Queen Dodo it is," Steven said.

Dodo leaned up and kissed Marlowe on the cheek but not before long was being shoved gently by the Doctor as he repeated again and again that she and Steven should board the craft and get prepared.

"Alright, alright," Steven said. "We're going. I don't know why you're so impatient Doctor. Don't tell me you've put money on me or something."

The Doctor scowled and a genuine look of offence swept over his face.

"I didn't mean that, I'm sorry, Doctor. Look we'll see you both at the finish line alright?"

Marlowe nodded and held his friend back for a moment. "You'll be careful, won't you?"

Steven smiled. "I'll be racing at top speed…but I'll try my best."

He tapped Marlowe on the shoulder and then led Dodo onto the ship, telling her about all the rules and restrictions. As Marlowe watched his friends leave, he saw two men and a woman walking up to and shaking Steven's hands as though welcoming him to the race. As the Doctor walked away, Marlowe noticed they were bent over Steven's craft and seemed to be offering some kind of advice.

He ignored it and caught up with the Doctor on the deck. He looked over at the Doctor's gleeful expression and wide excited eyes.

"You look happy," he said.

The Doctor laughed. "I put a little wager on the fellow."

"But you said…"

The Doctor put his hand over Marlowe's mouth. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him my boy, besides it just shows my faith in him."

Marlowe tried not to smirk as the Doctor let out one of the loudest chuckles he'd ever heard.

…

After the men and woman had left and they'd all wished each other luck for the race, Steven and Dodo got comfortable on the ship and Steven suggested Dodo look around to get better acquainted with the look and layout of the small craft. He then continued from his earlier lecture and went through safety protocol with her. As Dodo looked around, certain not to touch anything and annoy her companion, Steven made himself familiar with the controls of the ship he used to be so at ease with. Running his fingers over the control panel bought all those feelings of space missions back into his mind and for a moment it was like he was young again, piloting his very own craft and that anywhere was his destiny. Of course with the Doctor he was reliant on the old man's lack of direction and a rather temperamental craft, not that it didn't offer its own adventures of course, but for once he did admit it was nice to be in control and know exactly the destination and the finish line.

…

Marlowe and the Doctor wandered around the observation deck looking for the best view they could find of the race. The Doctor was certain he could secure the best position and so they had walked and walked for what felt like ages until it was just right. Marlowe sighed with relief when the Doctor finally made his decision and as they settled into a place and the Doctor folded out a seat from his walking stick as if by magic, Marlowe noticed that the group of people beside him were familiar to him. Then he realised they were the folk who had offered well wishes to Steven moments earlier, the friendly bunch he saw as he had left the start line. Sensing he was staring at them, the woman leaned over to him.

"Hi, you're with that Taylor aren't you? You think he stands a good chance?"

Marlowe nodded. "I have seen many great things from him and he has yet to disappoint me."

The Doctor shook hands with the three strangers. "And who are you cheering on if we may ask?"

"The ship 'Lighting Strikes' is a good bet. I've heard good things about her."

"Well Steven's a skilled pilot and will be getting himself acquainted with the race course as we speak," the Doctor said.

Marlowe sensed the group's friendly banter was hiding a deeper meaning but he didn't want to question it, after all he wondered whether his suspicions were more due to his own time and worrying about who he spoke to or what about.

"What were you speaking to Steven about if I may ask?" Marlowe asked trying to sound like it was a genuine query and not an accusation.

"We wished him luck of course," one of the men said. "And he's gonna need it."

The group laughed, only this time it sounded to Marlowe rather unpleasant and not sportsmanship like at all. He asked the Doctor what he thought but the Doctor wasn't sure, suggesting that people often got overly competitive at such events and may have meant nothing by it.

…

With half an hour to go until the race was due to start, Steven and Dodo sat in their seats, trying to relax. Steven was of course anxious and drummed his fingers along the console several times. Dodo in contrast was on the edge of her seat with excitement, never imagining she was going to take place in a real life spaceship race.

"I'll double check all the systems," Steven said.

"You did double check everything. You need to relax and start thinking about winning. Imagine lifting the trophy- that will inspire you."

…

Back in the observation deck, the Doctor and Marlowe took a breather away from their places in the crowd whilst the race was delayed for a brief period of time for which the Doctor was uncertain as to the reason. They headed for a bite to eat at one of the eateries located next to the spectator areas. Marlowe was barely paying attention as the Doctor ordered them some food as he was too busy watching the group who had spoken to them moments earlier. He was certain they were up to something. He was intuitive about things and was rarely wrong at recognising when someone was concealing something and had been double-crossed enough times to know when people were hiding things.

"Doctor, if you don't mind, I'll wait over there whilst you get the meal."

The Doctor nodded and Marlowe carefully made his way closer to the group, hiding himself as best he could behind a strange plant on top of a plinth. As the group began to converse, he listened closely and was shocked at what he heard.

"The device is in place," the woman whispered as she peered around her to make sure no one was listening. She certainly couldn't see Marlowe's slim body from behind the foliage.

"And Taylor didn't suspect anything when you planted it?"

"No, he was so friendly and showing me around the ship, he didn't even notice me put it underneath the passenger seat."

Marlowe's eyes widened. What device did they mean?

He hurried away from his position when he noticed the group had begun to disperse and he headed toward the Doctor who was at that moment coming in his direction, carrying a tray of snacks.

Marlowe grabbed the Doctor's arm and spluttered, trying to speak but his mouth not able to form words in his panic. The Doctor steadied him.

"What on earth's the matter, dear boy?"

Marlowe finally composed himself. "It's those people I was worried about. I overheard them saying they'd smuggled a device of some kind onto Steven's craft and hid it under Dodo's seat. They're trying to sabotage him. What is it Doctor, some kind of gunpowder?"

"A little more advanced I suspect but it amounts to the same carnage," the Doctor said, his eyes suddenly wide and alert. He put the tray of food onto the table and held onto Marlowe's arms. "We mustn't lose our heads over this."

"We haven't got much time. As soon as the race starts it's anyone's guess when it's going to blow up!"

"The real question is why they want to and how. I must find these people and reason with them. If I can talk to them I can determine the chances we have. We need to know how to deactivate the bomb or stop the culprits from detonating it. We must also stop the race and evacuate Steven and Dodo immediately. You must do that my boy. Find the officials here, do anything to stop this race from taking place."

Marlowe nodded and headed away to the spectator stand as the Doctor headed into the corridors leading away from the main deck, following the direction Marlowe had seen the group take.

Marlowe stared out of the window of the deck and could see that the race was moments from starting. There was a screen on the wall counting down the minute to go in big red letters. Panic swept over him. What if the ship blew up before he even had the chance to stop it? He tried to ignore the thoughts of the worst outcome and raced to the other end of the deck where the Doctor had secured their ship earlier that day. He shoved past a queue of disgruntled people and slammed his shaky hand on the desk. "Is this where I can speak to somebody in charge?"

"What does the matter concern?" said the man's voice but as Marlowe stared hard at the man he realised it wasn't a man at all but more like a metal version of a man that was programmed to do as it was told.

"I need help. My friends are in trouble. You have to stop this race."

"Queries will need to be discussed with the director of the race. All queries must be presented in a formal matter."

"Oh for goodness sake! I need to speak to a real person, I need to stop this."

He ran his hands through his hair and looked around, abandoning his place in the queue, realising that talking to a metal human was as good as useless.

"What do I do?" he repeated over and over and then raced back in the direction the Doctor had taken. He'd have to help the Doctor stop them and he'd have to do it quickly. As he ran, he heard cheers at the race commencing and with relief he realised that Steven's ship was still intact and had not exploded as soon as the race had begun. He didn't have much time to stop the disaster happening, but at least he hadn't failed yet.

After checking several doorways with no success, he finally stumbled into the fourth room and found the Doctor tied up to a chair with three people standing over him. One of the men held a rectangular shaped device in his hands which seemed to have a button on the top and some wiring protruding from it much like the complex machinery in the Doctor's TARDIS.

As soon as the men saw Marlowe they grabbed him and attempted to apprehend him but he struggled. "Let me go!"

"Don't struggle dear boy," the Doctor said. "I at least know their motives now, though I do not condone using violence to achieve it, especially when my innocent friends are placed in danger."

"But what are you doing to stop it?" Marlowe yelled as he struggled further in a tight hold.

"I'm trying to ask them to stop."

"Asking them? They're going to blow Steven and Dodo to kingdom come and you think we should ask them to stop?"

Marlowe was outraged. In other circumstances he may have agreed with the diplomatic approach but they had no time and Steven was in danger.

"My boy they have the detonator, I see no wise action in rash action."

"You mean they determine when it goes off? Then please, stop this," he said to the man who was holding him hostage. "My friends are no part of it. I don't understand why you're doing what you're doing and I'm not sure I care. All I care about is that no one gets hurt. I've seen too much of that in my lifetime."

"The man is right," the Doctor began. "Can't we come to some agreement?"

The man grumbled. "No. This has been decided and we have got to make it known that we are against the race officials. This is a protest of the highest degree."

"And you'd kill people to achieve it?" Marlowe said.

"Sacrifice is sometimes necessary to show we are serious to the cause."

Marlowe had heard enough. He didn't care what the Doctor thought. He wasn't going to stand around and let the ship be blown up whilst they attempted to reason. He spied the detonator behind him in one of the men's hands and with a sudden elbow to his captor's groin he raced over and punched the other man in the face so forcefully that the man dropped the device to the floor and fell with it. For a moment the Doctor and Marlowe could barely breathe as the button was dangerously close to being pressed accidentally in all the commotion.

Marlowe ran for the device at the same time as the woman did but he got there first, snatched it quickly and took it over to the Doctor and untied him. He then shoved the woman away and held another chair in front of him as a shield as his original captor gained on him. The Doctor began to safely break apart the detonator but told him that they still needed to stop the race.

"But I tried Doctor, they wouldn't listen. This place only listens to action, not to words."

"I think this is a job for me, my boy. I suggest we lock these people in here and get to the authorities."

Marlowe held the chair up and threatened the others with it as he and the Doctor left the room and locked them inside taking the dismantled detonator with them.

"You get to that docking port near the finish line," the Doctor shouted as he pointed in the direction and then made his way to the offices.

Marlowe did as instructed and hurried away.

…

As the race was cancelled and the ships were ordered to return under extreme protest from all the participants, Marlowe watched as Steven and Dodo made their way into the docking area. Most of the spectators had been evacuated but Marlowe had insisted he would wait for his friends. When he saw Steven emerge unscathed from the docking bay, he raced forward and engulfed him in a hug.

"I'm so glad you're alright. I could never bear it if anything happened to you."

Steven broke away from the embrace and looked at his friend strangely. "Thank you, but perhaps you could fill me in on what exactly happened. I feel like me and Dodo are missing something."

"Yeah, the race!" Dodo moaned. "I have the worst luck."

Marlowe laughed. "No my dearest Dodo, I think perhaps you have the best."

…

After the Doctor and Marlowe had explained everything to their unknowing friends and the race was put under immediate investigation, the travellers were forced to relocate to the adjacent deck before they were allowed to retrieve the TARDIS. Marlowe and Steven took the opportunity to travel down in a shuttle craft that had been approved safe to travel in and they landed the ship on a small planet which was lit purple in the fading daylight.

They sat inside the craft and Steven opened a bottle of wine as they looked out of the front window at the beautiful view.

"This is a much more pleasing way to travel," Marlowe said. "And there's more time to appreciate the spectacular scenery."

"Still, I'm rather disappointed I didn't get to race. But I have to say, I'm pretty happy not to have been blown to pieces and that's thanks to you and your quick thinking."

"And the Doctor."

Steven smiled. "The Doctor told me it was you who figured it all out. Of course he told me it was because you were being nosy but if I'm honest being nosy is an important part of being a travelling companion of his."

"So I'm worthy of such an honour now?"

Steven sighed. "You've always been worthy of it. You just couldn't believe it yourself. I hope now you can see that we all have the ability to do things we never thought we could."

Marlowe looked intensely at his friend and looked like he was going to say something serious. "Are you going to give me any of that cheese or what?"

Steven laughed. "Come and get your own cheese, you have two legs don't you?"

Marlowe shoved him lightly. "I have two feet that can kick you up the backside for such a remark."

"Are you saying you could fight me? I'd like to see you try, you're a weed."

"I punched a man out cold and elbowed another in the groin!"

Steven laughed as his friend continued to tell him all of his fighting achievements long after the purple lights in sky had started to fade.


	7. Chapter 7- The Great Fire

**Part 7- Steven and Marlowe are separated from the Doctor and Dodo as 'The Great Fire of London' rages on around them.**

It was London in the year 1666 and Samuel Pepys sat at his writing desk and set quill to parchment for another diary entry. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand and began writing. He read aloud as he wrote the words slow and with care.

"The fire continues to burn in the city and I feel powerless and uncertain as I watch this raging monster inferno strangle our buildings and suffocate our city with its demonic claws. And yet there is little I can do. We all ask the same question. When will it end? For now I have gained a little more knowledge from a respectable old gentleman and his granddaughter Dorothea who fled the monstrous flames and who are currently residing with me until it is safe for them to do so. Soon we too may need to move on as the fire draws ever closer and threatens us where we stand. The old man, the Doctor, assures me we shall be safe but that two of his friends are lost in the crowds. He wishes to be reunited with them as they became separated at the beginning of this disaster. I pray that he will find his friends and London will finally stop burning. Samuel Pepys."

"Mr Pepys," said his maid who was standing in the doorway of his bed chamber. "The Doctor is awaiting you downstairs."

"Thank you, Jane. I shall join him presently."

…

Steven Taylor and Christopher Marlowe laid out some old sacks to lie on after the long walk through yet another night to reach their location after they'd been forced to move from their previous settlement. It had been days now and nothing had changed. They settled in as comfortably as they could and looked around at the camp made up of all the now homeless poor of London who had fled their homes when the fire had taken hold. The camp was crowded and dirty and there was little food and water to go around. What small amounts of food they did have was often fought over and Steven found himself giving away any he had to the children. If they could find the Doctor soon, their rations could go to the people who needed it most.

The men lay back on their itchy sacks and stared into the sky which was now filled with a thick layer of smoke and ash. The image of fire and flame could be seen all around the city and there was little to do to escape the choking air and horrifying sight.

"It's hard to believe that this is not so far from my own time," Marlowe said. "That the London I know is gone forever."

"I've told you Kit," Steven said quietly, not keen to be overheard. "The fire ends soon and the city is rebuilt. It doesn't end here…though it certainly is a tragedy."

"But so much will change. I know change can be a good thing though the idea of this King Charles sounds strange to me for I've only grown up with a Queen on the throne. I always worry what a new monarch could do wrong next."

"Well I see what you mean, though I can't say I've had much experience with the monarchy."

"You haven't? But you're English aren't you?"

"I certainly am, born in Upper city which is North of England to you, around Preston. What was left of the world's monarchy was completely dissolved by the Dalek Invasion of Earth in the 22nd century."

"The Monarchy gone? I'm uncertain whether that makes me happy or bewildered."

Steven laughed. "It means people were all equal for a time. When everybody has nothing it certainly changes things. I think if you went to my time period you'd have a heart attack at how it had changed."

"I'd very much risk that to see where you were raised. I still know so little of you."

Steven felt his cheeks flush. He didn't often talk of his childhood, not in any detail at least. "Well I like being mysterious."

"Mystery does have an attractive quality."

Steven let out another chuckle but then stopped when he noticed a group of people had begun to stare at them. He suddenly felt guilty for laughing when so many of them were now homeless, and were inflicted with all sorts of ailments and disease. He shuffled uncomfortably for a moment wondering if it was possible for him to contract a virus of some kind.

"Is this the time of the plague?" he asked, fear creeping into his voice and certain Marlowe would know more about it than he would.

"The plague? One always fears outbreaks of it. Wouldn't the Doctor have cures for such a disease, he is a Doctor after all?"

"I suppose he must know how to get a cure. I once got blood poisoning though and had to rely on a man from the future. I wonder whether the Doctor's TARDIS would ever have found a place that would have treated me."

Marlowe rolled over to face his friend. "You're pampered a bit aren't you?"

Steven laughed again. "I beg your pardon?"

"Pampered, well, compared to me at least. When you're bought up with next to nothing and have seen people starving around you, or seen folk executed for different beliefs, well there isn't much time for pampering."

"Hey you forget I met people during the Paris massacre and I've been imprisoned. Believe me, I've seen just as much as you have. Things change, but people don't, and killing one another for having different beliefs is one thing that never stops."

"I'm sorry, I suppose I assumed."

"Can I remind you that although you may have started with little, you were educated and did very well for yourself while others didn't?"

Marlowe held his hands up. "I admit defeat. Perhaps I was distracted by your hair, I apologise for my short-sightedness."

"My hair?" Steven said and he rolled over to face his friend and touched his locks. "You think I'm pampered because my hair is clean?"

"Well it is rather luscious. You do stand out a bit here."

"It's called hair conditioner and I hate to break it to you but you've been using it too on the TARDIS. Sorry Kit but you too are well and truly pampered."

…

In the home of Samuel Pepys, sitting at the grand table, Pepys, the Doctor and Dodo ate their breakfast mostly in silence as conversation was difficult under the circumstances and the Doctor had no new information to impart on him which could be of any use. Three days had passed since the fire and he was beginning to feel he and Dodo were outstaying their welcome. At first they'd been welcomed guests of Pepys and the Doctor's knowledge of the progress of the inferno had been a great help as the information could be passed on from Pepys to the King. But as the days passed and there was no new information of how to proceed with the situation, the Doctor was getting nervous that he'd be seen as an inconvenience.

Finally the quiet became too unbearable for Dodo who just had to speak her mind. "Can we look for the boys today, Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded as he wiped his mouth with a cloth. "I think we should. I suspect they'll move along with the other now refugees but there are so many people moving around it may be difficult."

"You don't think they'll head back to where we had to abandon the TARDIS?"

Pepys raised an eyebrow. "The TARDIS?"

"A cart, Mr. Pepys," the Doctor said but mispronounced his name and had continuously called him 'Mr Pepps' since they had first met. Eventually Pepys had given up and let him mispronounce it to avoid a quarrel. "We left a cart there back at Pudding Lane where the fire started."

Pepys looked intrigued. "Not the cause of the whole fire are we, Doctor? I'm not harbouring an arsonist or terrorist am I?"

The Doctor chuckled. "Good gracious no. Not only have I never started any fires but I should hardly think I was capable of being responsible for such an event as this hmmm? No, we arrived here quite by accident and it was quite an interesting story…"

…

A few days earlier the TARDIS had arrived and the Doctor noted that the year-ometer was registering that it was some time between 1600 and 1675 though he couldn't ascertain the precise date. He also knew that it was England again and was proud of himself that he'd managed to get certain parts of his ship to do what he actually intended them to do. He still didn't have accuracy or any kind of real control over where the ship landed but at least he was able to calculate certain aspects of where and when they were.

Marlowe stared at the year-ometer. The time period was a little too close to his own time and he worried that it was a time so close that he might be recognised by going outside. He queried it with the Doctor who waved his arms at him, telling him that he was being overly cautious and that they need only take a look around and get back in the ship again before anyone even noticed. He suggested they all change into appropriate attire so with relief Marlowe found himself back in clothes he considered comfortable and easily amused that Steven was now the one who looked strange.

"It looks much better on you than those unusual jumpers you wear," Marlowe told Steven as they admired their outfits in the TARDIS wardrobe mirror.

"I doubt that," he said adjusting the tightness of his collar.

"Striking clothes for a beautiful man."

"Stop flirting with young Steven, dear boy," the Doctor said from the doorway. "Dodo and are I waiting."

Steven and Marlowe looked at each other and burst into laughter.

When the two men had finished changing and re-joined their friends by the doors of the TARDIS, they disembarked together and made their way outside. As soon as they stepped into the unknown and Dodo closed the door behind her, they were greeted with a strong smell of smoke and sounds of people running about along the street. A hoard of people crashed against the Doctor and he struggled to remain upright. Steven was the first to see the flames and stood in front of Marlowe instinctively.

"Uh Doctor, you've only gone and landed us in the middle of some sort of blaze."

"Oh dear," said the Doctor as he stared at a sign post on the road. "Pudding Lane. Oh dear, dear, dear."

"What is it?" Marlowe asked.

"Pudding Lane?" Dodo said. "Wait a minute, wasn't that the place where The Great Fire of London started?"

The Doctor nodded thoughtfully. "It is my dear, I'm afraid we've landed in the middle of it."

"The Great Fire of London, is this a famous event?" Marlowe said.

"Pretty famous," Steven replied. "In 1666 isn't it Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded and as he was shoved again by more passing folk, he suggested they get back into the TARDIS and away from the danger on the streets. However as he and Dodo started to move off, Steven and Marlowe spied a small child reaching out to them sobbing. Steven instinctively ran over to him and comforted him.

"Are you lost? You can't find your family?"

The little boy nodded and rubbed his tired, bleary eyes. Marlowe joined Steven and looked around for any signs of the boy's guardians. As they scanned the area, Steven could see that the Doctor and Dodo were being swept away by the now large crowd that were trying to escape down the lane. Just before they disappeared down the street, Steven jumped back in surprise when some planks of wood fell upon the TARDIS, blocking the doors completely.

"They've gone!" Marlowe shouted as he desperately tried to see through the smoke filled air. "The Doctor and Dodo are gone!"

After the two men found the boy's mother at the end of the street, crying, thinking she'd lost him forever, they then attempted to go back toward where the ship had been covered with debris, but as they did so they were pushed away and told to move on by yet another crowd who were trying to put the fire out.

"It's too dangerous, back that way," a man said. "Get out of here! The fire it won't stop. Get everyone away!"

…

Back at the camp, days later, Steven and Marlowe were getting restless and could do little but share in more conversation. They'd done little else since they'd been separated from their friends.

"This is a tragedy that one could write about in a play." Marlowe was looking through Steven almost as if he wasn't there.

"Oh no you don't!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'm not letting you write a play about something in the future and I'm not sure if you remember this little detail but you're meant to be dead."

Marlowe sat to attention and prodded his friend on the arm. "Excuse me, let me? I think I shall take charge of my own writings. And thank you Steven, I am quite well aware that I am meant to be dead. How can I stop writing when it is my passion?"

Steven sat up to join him. "I didn't say stop writing, just leave out major future events you're not supposed to know about. And I don't know, write under a different name."

Marlowe sighed and scratched his chin. "I suppose I could just send them to Shakespeare and let him take the credit, poor fellow is not quite as talented as me."

Steven snorted. "You're joking aren't you? William Shakespeare, the greatest English playwright that ever lived, the most famous world-wide?"

"Please tell me you're joshing. He's not really is he?"

"I'm afraid so."

Marlowe pouted and sighed again. "Just my luck. I 'die' and he becomes one of the most famous writers in history."

He curled back onto the floor and put his hands over his eyes. Steven watched him for a few moments as he made agitated noises. Marlowe was often overdramatic but on this occasion Steven could see why it had upset him.

"Where's a tavern when you need one?" Marlowe wailed.

…

Steven fetched some water for himself and Marlowe to which they both took great relief in drinking and gulped it down like they'd not drunk in years. It wasn't ale like Marlowe had requested but any liquid at that moment was welcome after days of wandering the city with barely enough sustenance to sustain them.

"Do you suppose the Doctor and Dodo are in camp like this too?" Marlowe asked as he wiped his chin with his sleeve.

"You're joking aren't you? If I know our Doctor he'll be as far away from slumming it as possible. I hope so though. I don't like to think of Dodo sleeping rough."

"You really care about her don't you?"

"Of course. Is that so strange?"

"I worry about the human race in general but I must admit there's been few people in my life I've ever truly cared about. When you live the kind of life I do you don't form life long attachments."

Steven smiled lightly but didn't reply. He felt sympathy for Kit knowing it was difficult to stay friends with people when your life was a chaotic one. He'd been the same, the friends he did have had moved on or worse been taken from him.

"But I hope that's changed for you now?"

Marlowe smirked at his friend. "Most definitely. You have seared yourself onto my heart and there you shall remain until my dying day."

Steven could barely find the words to reply so he kept quiet and averted his eyes.

"So where should we head for?" Marlowe asked, noticing Steven seemed uncomfortable. "Shall we stay and wait for the Doctor or head back to the TARDIS, or what's left of it?"

"The TARDIS is as indestructible as the Doctor. If the whole of London is reduced to ash, the one thing left standing would be that police box."

"How is it possible that it can be the only thing to not succumb to the flames?"

"I'm not sure about the science exactly, but the Doctor told me that a hoard of speared warriors couldn't break through its magical doors."

"Well then we either go to the indestructible magical TARDIS and hope it's unguarded, or we head for the river, you said the Doctor would most likely head for the water."

"But we only have a little money and there's far too many people trying to get on boats."

Marlowe laughed. "I don't suppose we could swim?"

The thought of swimming in the polluted Thames made Steven's stomach turn. The river had been dirty enough in his own time- he dreaded to think what it had been like in 1666! He wasn't sure whether his friend was joking!

"Well looks like we're stuck here for a while at least then," Steven said. "The Doctor will come to look for us at some point. We may as well get used to our new lodgings, besides we've done nothing but move from place to place since the fire started. I've even begun to lose track of the days."

…

As the day grew into the evening and there was little to do but watch as people arrived and departed the camp like a busy train station, Steven and Marlowe sat in silence, staring helplessly around them, having exhausted much of their conversation already.

"What are you looking at?" Steven finally asked, noticing Marlowe had moved from his position and was now crouched on the ground, hiding behind a barrel, observing a man in the distance.

"What are you doing?" Steven whispered.

"That man is out of place here."

"Well so are we in case you hadn't noticed. What's your point?"

"No, I mean he's not a pauper fleeing a fire, he's some high court official or something. My guess is he's trying to gain evidence to accuse one of these people of starting the fire as an act of terrorism."

Steven got up to join his friend and looked in the direction of the man he was referring to. "He looks like everyone else, how can you tell?"

"You have to read between the lines. It's not just what's being said and done…it's what's not being said and not done."

"Well I don't know how you do it. I guess I'm not very observant."

"I just have experience of these things," Marlowe said with an air of ambiguity in the statement. He watched as the man walked away and then sat back down on the ground.

Steven followed Marlowe and looked at him. "Now who's the man of mystery? What kind of experience?"

"Spying on people of course."

"For work or pleasure?"

"If I told you I'm not sure you'd believe me." He stopped when he could feel Steven's eyes gazing at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Steven grinned. "I just never expected it. You seem so…good."

"That's because I reserve my good side for you my dearest."

"So you say you spy on people, you mean you work for an organisation or something. Tudor MI5?"

Marlowe looked confused. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I occasionally did some spy work for someone that I cannot name. I took an oath of secrecy, but I will tell you this…I wasn't entirely honest with you. I spent more time travelling on Earth than you think. I travelled to the colonies on the new world and did some work there."

"Why didn't you tell me, I'd hardly have judged you?"

"I had to make sure I trusted you. How was I to know that you wouldn't betray me the moment I told you all of my secrets?"

"But we were in outer space. I was hardly likely to pop back to the 16th century and inform that you were a spy."

"I know. I don't know why I stayed silent. I'm so used to keeping quiet about it I suppose. But I'm telling you now because I want you to know that I do trust you with every fibre of my being, and that this in front of you is me, all of me, the good and the bad."

"Well it hardly matters now."

Steven fell silent for a moment or two and Marlowe looked at him curiously. "You're not saying anything."

"I'm just surprised that's all. I mean I knew you were good at reading people; I just thought you were one of those writers who really got into characters minds. There's so much I didn't know…"

"I'm still the same Kit if it helps."

Steven smiled. "Glad to hear it."

…

The Doctor and Dodo stood outside of the Pepys household where the smoke in the sky shrouded the city in a blanket of smog. Dodo coughed and held onto the Doctor's arm. "Oh Doctor, look at it. I'm really starting to worry about Steven and Kit out in this."

The Doctor put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulders. "My dear, we will all be reunited very soon, in the meantime try and enjoy the experience."

"Enjoy it?" Dodo exclaimed. "London's on fire!"

"Yes a most awful tragedy but we're witnessing history first hand my dear." He chuckled. "Not that it's the first time I've watched as a city burnt to the ground."

Dodo shoved him lightly, assuming he was teasing her. "Doctor!"

"Sometimes the most unpleasant things allow us to learn a great deal," he said before taking a deep breath and then erupting into a coughing fit.

…

A crowd had gathered at the camp as a baker had arrived with some stock he'd bought with him and was eager to sell. Marlowe waited in the line to buy some bread and was casually watching around him at the people he saw. Many of the camp were families with children and most were the poor but it didn't escape his attention that there were also people travelling on their own. Perhaps they had become separated from their loved ones or perhaps in such a cruel world as he knew, they really didn't have anyone else to care for them. He was in a future of only a hundred years from when he was born, a time in many ways not so different from his own and yet arriving there in the TARDIS with the Doctor and Steven made it feel as alien a world as any other, as though he was picked up and dropped down into the camp from the outside and didn't deserve to be buying any bread at all. He knew when he got back to the Doctor he'd have enough food from that marvellous food machine and he'd be away from the disaster in London whereas these people would not- they were trapped.

As he finally got to the front of the line, he was pushed back a pace by a taller and sturdier man in his forties.

"I was next," Marlowe reminded him as he placed his hand in front of him.

"Yes well now I am," the man replied.

Marlowe grew angry and impatient the more the man looked him up and down. Marlowe had been waiting for what felt like ages whilst Steven had taken the opportunity to have a walk around the camp and ask whether people had seen an old man and a young girl. Steven has made that his particular duty and had done it several times every day since they'd been lost from their friends.

The man felt Marlowe's hand grip his shoulder as if to pull him back again.

The man shoved him lightly. "Listen, I've been here longer than you and your friend who don't even seem to take any of this seriously. You laugh and joke with one another. Perhaps you have something to hide. Well I don't, I'm just hungry and want some bread."

"What are you suggesting exactly?"

"I'm suggesting that you two posh folk can go back to the side you belong to, especially your friend who is clearly not one of us."

Marlowe felt a rage inside him and he could feel his fists tightening together the more the man spoke. "You know nothing about Steven."

"And I don't want to. You two are peculiar characters if ever I saw them. Keep the man away, he's not wanted here."

Marlowe didn't even realise what he was doing when his fist made contact with the man's cheek, but the man got up immediately from the blow and retaliated, punching Marlowe in the face and jaw. This then descended into a full blown wrestle with both men taking every opportunity to punch and kick the other.

As the fight gained attention and a crowd had gathered in the camp to watch, Steven heard a chorus of chanting and became aware that a brawl had broken out. He hoped Marlowe was as far away from danger as possible, but as he made his way to where the fight was taking place, he was astonished to find that one of the men was in fact his own friend.

"I don't believe it," he said to himself, before racing forward and pulling Marlowe away with a struggle. "Kit, what on earth are you doing?"

Marlowe attempted to wrestle with the man again but Steven pushed him away forcefully. Steven turned to the man and shrugged his shoulders as a form of apology though he didn't know nor care how the fight had started. "He's not been himself lately."

"Don't look at me like that," Marlowe said, still trying to catch his breath as Steven led him away from the crowd, still holding onto his arms in a form of restraint.

Steven sighed and let go of him finally and instead gently held onto Marlowe's face in his hand, lifting his chin up and examining him. "You're bleeding."

"I know."

"Want to enlighten me on why you were brawling?"

Marlowe shrugged. "The man was an imbecile."

"First spying, now brawling, I'm seeing an entirely different side to you today."

"And you don't like it?"

"I don't like seeing my friend covered in blood about to be killed."

"I'm sorry. Sometimes I get carried away. It's this place, being back here, back in a time that I'm used to. When I was out in the stars with you it was daunting and scary and I never felt strong or confident or even worthy. Here I feel perhaps I have too much confidence than is good for me. I have got into trouble because of it, but I can't seem to help myself when I'm here because I feel like everyone is against me."

Steven ripped some material from his sleeve, wetted it and dabbed the wet material onto Marlowe's mouth and chin as he cleaned up the blood carefully. "You know everyone's staring now, don't you?"

"Am I supposed to be worried about that?"

"Well we can hardly stay here now. That man will probably be sharpening his knife ready in case you set on him again. You have to be more careful."

"I've told you, being on spaceships and surrounded by robots and aliens, that scares me but down here I can take care of myself."

"Really? So my helping you escape in 1593 was the wrong choice, should I have left you to be killed? Did you have another plan?"

"You're angry with me."

"You take such risks."

"You're starting to sound like my father!"

Steven stopped what he was doing and shot him an unimpressed look. "I'm not trying to sound like your guardian. I'm just saying we really ought to move on now. I'm starting to wonder whether we should've headed to the water earlier."

"I think it's a splendid idea. We'll get a boat after all and then maybe you'll forgive me."

"I told you we've only got a little money left; they may want more than we're willing to give."

Marlowe placed his arm around Steven's shoulder and smiled broadly. "Oh I think I can turn on some Kit Marlowe charm and convince them."

"How exactly?"

Marlowe winked. "I'm surprised you even have to ask."

…

The Doctor was still coughing as he and Dodo walked with Samuel Pepys along the road leading from his house. Pepys summoned for a horse and cart and he helped the Doctor and Dodo onto it. As they settled on the top of the rickety mode of transport with little space to move, Dodo's eyes stared across the city as the image of vibrant orange filled her vision. The image of the burning London was horrifying yet strangely beautiful at the same time- it reminder her of an oil painting where the artist had poured orange paint onto the canvas and waited for the results. It was strange to her that it was all happening exactly three hundred years before her time on earth in the very same city. Sometimes life with the Doctor was a peculiar one.

Finally, Pepys climbed up beside them snapping Dodo out of her daydream, and he asked the driver to set off to their location. Dodo was keen to get moving, they'd not heard from their friends in days and she worried about them.

…

Leaving the camp behind and heading toward the Thames, Steven and Marlowe avoided the other refugees who were making their way either to the river or the outskirts of the city to escape the fire. They casually strolled along a route Marlowe was familiar with, a route he'd noted barely changed since his time in 1593. Steven admitted it was extremely useful knowing a man who was so in tune with the layout of London.

"If we do ever get out of the city, where do you think we'll end up next?" Marlowe asked.

"Another mysterious place I should think. Why do you want to know?"

"I was just thinking about all this travelling."

"Are you starting to get tired of wandering?"

Marlowe sighed as they paused for a moment to take a breather. "I'm not sure. Don't you ever miss the idea of settling down, living a life in one place, pursuing one's passions?"

"I think about it from time to time. Truth is I've never been sure what my life is going to be next. Are you starting to tire of travelling with us?"

"No, I don't think so. I've enjoyed myself and I've seen…well I've seen more than I imagined possible, and more importantly I met three people who I can call friends."

"Don't tell me you're getting sentimental on me?"

"I'm afraid I am." He looked into Steven's eyes and smiled warmly. "And I mean it Steven, I am thankful for you saving me that night and letting me experience a different way of life."

"You sound like you're saying your last farewells. Is there something you're not telling me?"

Marlowe fell silent and he looked away, unable to keep his gaze in Steven's eyes that he thought were two of the most wonderful eyes he'd ever seen.

"No. I just know that I should tell you these things in case…"

"Now hang on a minute…you're not saying what I think you're saying, I thought you were the optimistic one?"

"I am and I'm not saying it's inevitable, just that I've been living on borrowed time for a while now and it's eventually going to catch up with me."

"Don't think like that, Kit. You're alive and you're going to be for some time yet."

Steven couldn't bear to look at Marlowe when he said it. He'd still not confessed to his friend that there was more to their meeting in the future than he'd let on. Marlowe knew that Steven had met a future version of him and Steven had tried to explain that saving him may have changed the outcome, but the confusion of time travel complicated everything. Steven couldn't be sure now of Marlowe's fate, had no idea whether the events in Venice he'd seen when he travelled with Vicki were still to happen to his friend and whether Kit was still to die there. He hoped he'd changed it for the better and that his friend could live somewhere in peace away from danger and watching over his shoulder for the rest of his life but he couldn't be certain how it would all end.

"So then Mr. Taylor," Marlowe said, breaking Steven from his trance. "If by some miracle the Doctor managed to get you somewhere and you were to stay, where do you suppose you'd want it to be?"

Steven smiled. "I really haven't thought of life beyond looking after the Doctor and Dodo."

"Go on, give me a clue. How about stopping at a beachside with a grand house complete with good food, good wine, sexual encounters with whomever you fancy and lots of pampering?"

Steven started to laugh and shook Kit's humour away, suddenly feeling embarrassed. Steven never thought of himself as someone who embarrassed easily but he was so used to being on missions, being in captivity or travelling with the Doctor and teenaged girls that he hadn't had conversations of that kind with anyone in a long time. He was grateful at last that he had someone to talk to about new things, even if Kit was far more flamboyant and certainly more open about such things than he was despite being hundreds of years older than him.

After the laughter died down, they fell silent in contemplation until they arrived at the waters edge, finally reaching their destination after so much walking and so much tiredness.

Steven looked across at the river. "In all honestly I don't know where I'll end up. I never really have time to consider it." He looked at his friend who was shaking his head as if not believing that he had no wishes or plans for the future. Steven relented and grinned cheekily. "Well I suppose that beach idea sounds a lot of fun. Maybe…"

Steven stopped his sentence midway through when he heard an echoing chuckle that he recognised immediately coming from the direction of the water. "That's the Doctor's laugh!"

Marlowe and Steven searched around the various small boats that were coming onto shore, looking around at the various people coming onto land to look for families or to take others across the Thames to the safer areas of the city. Finally, arriving through the smoky air as if appearing through a magician's fog, a small but grand boat rowed into view with the Doctor and Dodo sitting on one end, a rower on the other, and a curly haired man sitting on a regal throne seat in the middle. Marlowe and Steven exchanged amused glances. The man on the throne sat upright and confident and seemed to be in conversation with the Doctor as though they'd been friends for years.

"Is that the King?" Marlowe asked incredulously.

Steven laughed aloud. "I think it is! How does he do it?"

The Doctor and Dodo waved as they arrived at the dock and spotted Marlowe and Steven to their right. Dodo cheekily tested out her royal wave at her two friends, clearly enjoying every minute of living history first hand whilst the Doctor threw his own hands in the air, waving them about and shouting. 'Over here' several times.

"How the hell does he do it?" Steven said. "Only the Doctor could hitch a ride up the Thames with the King of England."

…

Back in the TARDIS, safe away from the fire that raged across London, the travellers were still watching the sight on the scanner screen as the ship de-materialised.

"London will need to be re-built," Dodo said sadly. "I feel so sorry for all those left behind."

The Doctor flicked a switch on the TARDIS console. "It's a difficult time in history and it certainly won't be the last time the city gets destroyed. London suffers a few more times but as long as there are people to re-build, it always moves on."

The others noticed he looked down at the console for a few moments in reflection as though he had some personal experience with the city. After he composed himself, he put the ship into flight and they all stood around the console as the rotor rose and fell in the magnificent way they were used to. Finally it ground to a halt and after they'd all taken some time to clean themselves up and have a well deserved bite to eat, they re-grouped at the door and took a step outside to see where they'd landed next.

A beach greeted them with majestic blue seas, bright yellow sand and palm trees stretching along the distance. The climate was warm and pleasing. Marlowe and Steven smirked at one another.

"I think we found your paradise," Marlowe said. "Time for some pampering?"


	8. Chapter 8- The Full Circle

**Part 8- When the TARDIS lands in 17th century Venice, Steven realises that it may be time to say goodbye to Marlowe.**

Venice Beach, 2016.

"I could get used to this," Marlowe said as he lay back upon the sun lounger, soaking up the sun's rays on his pale torso.

Steven turned to face him from his own lounger and smiled. He could barely recognise that his old friend was the same man he'd met in the 16th century. California had quite brought out Kit's fashionable side and he'd spent the month they'd been staying near the beach in expensive swimming trunks, a tight fitted vest and a pair of name brand sunglasses. The Doctor had accused him of being as bone idle as Chesterton had been which of course he didn't understand so it didn't matter to him in the slightest.

"The Doctor wants to leave tomorrow," Steven said.

"Shame."

"You could always stay if you like it that much."

Marlowe lifted the sunglasses off his face, squinting in the sunlight. "I like it here but I'm not sure if I'm ready for a commitment of adapting to this time period."

"Why not? You could get a job writing advertisements and watch all the muscular men weight training on your way to work. You could live a relatively normal existence without too much hardship."

"No hardship? I can't have that, what will I have to rebel against?"

"Is it so important to rebel?"

"I said I wanted to stay in one place after a life of chaos but it doesn't mean I want to do as I'm told."

Steven laughed. "No, I don't expect you do. So ideally you want a life with this kind of luxury but you want some threat of some kind to keep you on your toes and give you something to write about?"

He peered over at Marlowe's notebook that his friend had been scribbling in every day since they'd arrived. "And I see you've already started writing again. Hold on, does that say Kit Taylor at the top?"

"Well you told me to change my writing name. It was the perfect idea."

"By taking my name without my permission?"

"You're not offended are you- I thought you'd be flattered?"

"Feels like a schoolgirl writing a boy's name over and over in a text book."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing, nothing, its fine. Be Kit Taylor if you think its best."

There was a loud cough which interrupted them. "Why am I not surprised you two are dilly dallying by the pool in the exact same spot where I left you this morning," the Doctor said as he and Dodo came into view in front of their loungers, both of them holding an ice cream.

Marlowe got up to allow Dodo to take his seat and then he noticed a small black and white toy sitting perfectly upright beside Steven's lounger. He reached down and picked it up, realising it was a soft little bear of some kind. "What is this may I ask?"

Steven's face turned a shade of red and he snatched the bear away realising all three of his friends were grinning at him. "That's Hi-Fi."

"He has his own name?" Marlowe asked, his eyebrow raised and his face displaying a hint of mischief.

"He was my mascot. When I crash landed on the planet Mechanus, Hi-Fi was all I had for company." He looked down at the bear and then looked back at Kit. "I suppose you're going to make fun of me?"

"As tempting as it would be, I can see it means a great deal to you and so I shall resist the temptation."

"It's not like you to resist a temptation."

"Now who's the one making fun?"

Before Steven could reply the Doctor was clapping his hands together in exasperation to gain their attention. "Are you two ready to leave in a moment?"

"I thought we were going tomorrow?" Steven asked.

"You have the memory of a sieve, dear boy. I said Wednesday and it is Wednesday is it not?"

"I guess it is, I've lost track of the days here," Steven said.

"Well I'd suppose you would know the days if you two hadn't spent the time frolicking half naked on the sand."

"Hold on! I'd hardly call it frolicking!" Steven protested, his voice rising in pitch at whatever the assumption was, though Marlowe seemed unfazed by any assumption at all.

Dodo laughed and linked her arm through Steven's as he got up and made himself ready to leave. "I forgot to get you an ice cream," she said as she took a bite of the strawberry treat."

"Oh yeah, course you did, more like you just ate it for yourself."

Dodo looked upwards pretending she hadn't heard his accusation. It was of course true that she'd bought him a choc-ice but she had been unable to choose which treat she'd prefer so had greedily opted for both. She felt guilty about it soon after but there was no point admitting that to Steven.

Steven laughed as he put his arm around his young friend. "Come on, you can help me get some of my things together."

…

The Doctor put the ship into flight as soon as they got inside the TARDIS and it only took a few moments for it to de-materialise somewhere new. Steven looked curiously at the console, realising he'd rarely seen the TARDIS land quite so quickly, almost as if it had been dragged down rather than landed there spontaneously. The Doctor looked pale when he glanced at the year-ometer and location metre. Marlowe was too busy showing Dodo his muscles and didn't notice Steven being beckoned over to the console by the Doctor. When Steven approached the hexagonal unit, his eyes stared wide in disbelief as he stared at the readings.

"We're in Venice between the years of 1590 and 1620? Can't it be more accurate?"

The Doctor shook him away with his handkerchief, not keen to have his machine criticised.

"You two are being very secretive," Marlowe called from the other side of the room.

"Nothing to concern you with, dear boy," the Doctor said. "You look extremely sandy young man and you're getting it everywhere."

"Kit maybe you should take a shower," Steven told him.

"Oh, you're not allowing me to decide when I wash myself?"

"I didn't mean it like that."

Marlowe laughed. "On this occasion I shall take your advice. There is sand lodged in every part of my body."

Steven pushed Marlowe in the direction of the shower room. "Just go."

As Steven watched Marlowe leave he rejoined the Doctor at the console and shot him a knowing glance.

The Doctor nodded. "I know what you're worried about my boy and it's certainly strange but I'm unsure it means anything."

"What are you talking about?" Dodo asked.

"It's Venice again, my dear. We've landed in Venice."

"Oh where you first met Kit wasn't it? Is that a problem?"

"It is if it's the same time period," Steven replied. "But it's not just that Dodo, and promise you won't say anything to Kit but there's something weird going on here."

"Weird like how?"

"Think about it Dodo, all the times since we've met him, we keep landing in places that relate to him in some way. I mean I met him three times, not to mention when we landed in Canterbury and then the 1600's and then we just happen to land on a place called Venice Beach before finally landing in Venice itself, possibly the same time period, full circle, back to where this all began."

"You might be slightly over thinking this, dear boy."

"I don't think I am," Steven said, pacing to and fro around the console. "A moment ago it was like the TARDIS was being dragged here. This is all my fault."

"How can that be?" Dodo said.

"I saved his life by taking him with us. I thought he could avoid his fate, thought by changing history it would change the outcome, but all I did has been in vain."

"We could just take Kit with us to somewhere else," Dodo suggested.

"And if we did that we'd probably end up back here eventually. It's no use, we've been beaten and we can't keep lying to him."

"My boy if Mr. Marlowe is determined to live out in the way we saw then he lives beyond the time he would have in England. Besides you have changed his very timeline after letting him come with us."

"But he'll still die."

"Kit's going to die in Venice? Can't it be prevented?" Dodo asked. She was shocked at the news. They'd told her they'd seen Kit's future in Venice but as usual they'd shielded her from the most painful part.

"For us dear girl, it's already been and done. Steven was with him when it happened, or rather will be depending on how you look at it. Marlowe has another say fifteen years, my boy."

"But he won't be an old man. He'll only be in his forties." Steven sighed.

The Doctor tapped his young friend on the shoulder. "You've given him more years than were possible and he may live longer now that things have happened quite differently. Now, get yourself cleaned up, find your friend and let's take a look outside. We must let him decide if he wants to stay and this time no meddling. We'll keep our knowledge of his possible future to an absolute minimum- no one is to tell him anything, hmm?"

…

Christopher Marlowe stood in the shower as he let the warm water run down his body and caress his sandy skin. He stared up at the running water as it fell from a giant nozzle at the top of the unit and let the droplets fall upon his face. He thought about Venice beach and then he thought about home. He thought about what would be going on in his own time and all the things he was missing by being away. He enjoyed his adventures very much but something was missing. He wanted to feel he belonged in the right time and place where he could be himself.

Steven banged hard on the shower room door. "Kit, are you finished?"

"There's always room for two," Marlowe shouted, his voice sounding muffled through the doors.

A moment later, Marlowe stepped out of the shower room with a towel wrapped his waist. "Can a man not enjoy this wonderful shower thing without interruptions?"

He looked at Steven and noticed he wasn't listening to a word he had said. He prodded him on the arm but still he remained motionless, lost in his own thoughts. "Are you alright my dearest one, you seem as though you're despairing?"

Steven finally shook from his daydream in time to reply. "No, no, everything's fine. The Doctor thought you might like to know that we've landed close to your time again but he thinks we're in Venice."

"Venice? Well now that is strange right after our trip to Venice beach but it sounds promising. We do end up in my time an awful lot for a ship able to traverse across all of time and space." Marlowe laughed not understanding any significance in the way Steven did.

"But you're ok with it being so close to England?"

Steven instinctively turned around whilst Marlowe dried himself off and placed a shirt and trousers over his naked body.

"Well I suppose at least they're not walking distance from each other and I'd quite like to see Venice again. I visited once when I was in my early twenties."

"On a spy thing?"

"Funnily enough, no. I have good memories there. It was a peaceful location. Have you ever been, Steven? Don't tell me by your time it's under water or something?" He laughed but noticed his friend was downcast. "What ever is the matter my dearest Steven?"

"I did go to Venice once but I had a terrible time."

Marlowe smiled. "Well then, let's try to make your second visit far more enjoyable. With me as your companion it shall be most memorable."

…

Stepping outside the TARDIS, Steven watched as Dodo instantly linked arms with Kit and began telling him a joke she'd heard. It was always like Dodo to try and make the best out of a bad situation. It was one of Steven's favourite things about the girl, the way she would try to make others happy, to realise that having fun was important when travelling could also be troubling and full of uncertainty. He knew that Dodo had had a difficult childhood and had gone unnoticed in life, but he found it very hard to ask her about it and certainly would never be any use at any form of counsel.

"Come along, dear boy," the Doctor said to Steven noticing he was lagging behind. "Let's at least see what the young man says before we admit defeat."

They headed toward the dock where Dodo and Marlowe had already clambered onto one of the gondolas, waiting for them to arrive. When they were all finally comfortable on the boat, the Doctor asked to be taken to the middle of the city. Marlowe made himself at home instantly on the gondola as he placed his arm behind his head and leaned back against the rear of the boat.

"This is the life," he said. "I think I could get used to this kind of travel."

The Doctor, Dodo, and Steven exchanged glances.

…

In the local tavern, the Doctor thanked the innkeeper as he handed him a collection of coins. Marlowe joined him at the bar, offering to help carry their drinks back to the table where Steven and Dodo sat together deep in conversation.

"I'll pay for these," Marlowe said to the Doctor. "I have some money from when I was home. I've let you treat me time and time again. Let me do this one little thing for you."

Marlowe pulled a small purse from his tunic and handed some coins to the Doctor.

"Most generous young man, thank you."

They then made their way to the table and sat down. The Doctor glanced curiously at his young companion.

"You do seem in a pleasant mood, young Kit," he said to him.

"I feel content for the first time in ages. Not that I haven't enjoyed myself with you all, but here I feel a sense of coming home. It's not the familiar streets of Canterbury or London but it's my time and I understand it. I can feel it in my bones."

"Do you want to stay?" Dodo said but stopped when she saw Steven glaring at her.

"I think perhaps I do. What do you think, Steven?"

"Well it doesn't matter what I think." He gulped down some of his beverage without looking at his friend.

"It does matter. Your opinion means a great deal to me."

"But it's your decision."

"Indeed," Marlowe said with exasperation. "But what is your opinion on it?"

Steven admitted defeat to himself, knowing he'd have to address the matter eventually. "It's a nice place. You could be happy here. If you don't take risks I guess you could make a life here."

"I think that is 'Steven talk' for being a good idea."

"So you're leaving us?" Dodo said sadly. "I'm sure this is a lovely place but I'm sad to see you go."

"I too am sad to say goodbye, Dodo." He smiled at her warmly. "If I had my way I'd make you all stay here with me, but I know that is not the path for any of you." He said the words looking at Steven in particular.

"We must all find our way eventually I suppose," the Doctor said.

…

Inside the tavern late that night when the candlelight blazed furiously in the darkness of the pub, Steven sat at a table by the window and waited for Kit to join him with the ale. He was getting used to the taste of the liquor now, having consumed it more than was probably good for him in recent months.

"It was very nice of the Doctor to offer assistance with finding me a place to stay," Marlowe said as he brought their drinks to the table and made himself comfortable next to Steven.

Steven thanked him for the drink. "The Doctor's grown very fond of you and wants to make sure you're settled well."

"I must admit I too have grown fond of the old fellow. He has many good sides to him though his exterior shows mainly his irascibility."

Steven laughed. "We're all like that, hiding things, layers of ourselves."

"That's very poetic, Mr. Taylor!"

Steven gulped down some of his drink. "I think you've rubbed off on me."

"I know exactly what you mean," Marlowe said looking at Steven intensely. "I have seen you open up to me. When we first met you were so guarded about personal matters."

"You didn't exactly tell me everything!"

"True but I suppose men should be able to have some secrets."

There was a brief pause as both men sipped their ale at the same time, both laughing when they realised their synchronicity.

Steven took a moment to let the laughter pass and then sighed heavily. "But you're sure about staying are you? What will you do here?"

"I'll write and I'll find odd things to do. You needn't worry about me- it's out in the stars where my fears are amplified. I've learnt a lot but I'm quite content to end it here. Do you not think I worry about you?"

"Do you?"

"Out in the unknown with aliens, wars and an untold many dangers? I always fear for your safety. So you see it works both ways."

"If you come with us we could keep an eye on each other."

"If you stay we could do the same."

They both smiled, realising neither of them was going to change their mind. They each belonged to the life they had chosen and Marlowe had found his destination whilst Steven had a little longer to search for his.

"Drinking in a tavern reminds me of our first meeting," Marlowe said.

Steven nodded, though for him the tavern was actually their second meeting, still the sentiment was the same. "We got very drunk if I remember."

"You told me you were a man from the stars and I was smitten."

"Oh don't be silly, you didn't know me!"

"I was instantly intrigued by you and the curiosity has never subsided. I constantly find myself in awe."

Steven blushed. "You don't have to say this."

"Then when should I? This is our last day together and I fear we may never see each other again. I may be deprived of your masculine beauty for eternity."

"I think perhaps you may see me again." He smiled at him and Marlowe wondered if it was a promise.

"When friends are parted its important they know how much they are appreciated."

"Of course."

…

"Well Kit," Dodo said with cheer. "How do you like your new digs?"

Marlowe and Steven stood in the middle of a simple room and they glanced around at the residence the Doctor had acquired for Marlowe whilst they'd been getting drunk in the tavern. Steven who felt especially worse for wear could barely stand and had to be helped to a chair by Dodo who was scoffing at him. Marlowe too was drunk but was able to hold his liquor far better than his friend from the future.

"This place is mine?" Marlowe asked.

"If you want it," the Doctor said. "I can pay the first bit of rent as a parting gift."

"I can't let you do that," Marlowe protested.

"Nonsense my boy, you've been an asset to our group and I shall like to make sure you have a roof over your head when we leave. After the money runs out, of course you're on your own- though I'm sure you'll find ways to make money."

Steven smirked. "Legally hopefully."

"I think this should be fine, thank you, Doctor. I wish I could repay you but I suppose a gift should be accepted from a friend." He shook the Doctor's hand.

"And I put the flowers there on the table as a gift from me," Dodo said.

Marlowe leaned over and smelt the flowers. "They're very pretty and fragrant. I thank you dearest Dodo, a real life flower if ever there was one."

"What present will you give him, Steven?" Dodo said.

"Steven need not give anything. His being here with me is thanks enough."

"Still I'd like to leave a farewell gift," Steven said as he took off his dog tag that hung around his neck. "I'd like you to have this."

"I can't accept it."

"Of course you can and whenever you wear it you'll be reminded of me."

Marlowe held onto it tightly. "I shall cherish it."

The Doctor coughed and asked Dodo to join him in the small kitchen area, announcing it was because he wanted to discuss plans with the owner of the property when in fact it was because he knew when a private moment was needed.

"So it's settled now then," Steven said. "You have your own place now, a proper bachelor pad."

Marlowe nodded, steadied himself and sat beside Steven at the table. He then pulled out the small notebook he carried with him wherever he went. "While the Doctor and Dodo are away I'd like to give you my present. I thought you'd be embarrassed if I gave it to you with them in the room."

"You didn't need to get me anything."

"I've been working on this collection of poems for you whilst we travelled together. I thought if ever we were to leave one another then I'd offer them as a parting gift."

Marlowe handed Steven the notebook and Steven carefully ran his fingers over the cover. "You wrote these for me, I don't know what to say?"

"You like it?"

Steven nodded, smiling. "I do, thank you Kit. It's a very thoughtful gift."

…

The night turned to morning and the travellers woke in Marlowe's new lodgings having spent the night cramped in the living quarters after being forced to stay there because Steven was far too drunk to travel on a gondola. The Doctor had taken the bed whilst his three younger companions had slept on the floor in a small room situated at the front of the property.

As soon as Steven awoke he could feel a muscle pain in his back and he began sighing loudly when he could hear Marlowe bashing pots and pans together in the kitchen. Steven had had far too much to drink the night before and so any noise at all was excruciating. He wondered how Kit was able to carry on as though he hadn't drunk anything.

The Doctor however was a cheerful as a schoolboy when he entered the room. He was upright, bright eyed and ready for the day ahead. "What a splendid night's sleep."

"I'm glad somebody got a wink of it." Steven groaned as he rubbed his aching back.

"I have no sympathy, my boy. Your worse for wear state is entirely self-inflicted."

Steven couldn't be bothered to argue and rubbed his bleary eyes back into focus.

"I didn't sleep too badly," Dodo said as she helped Marlowe with the breakfast. "Slept as soon as me head hit what were meant to be my pillow."

Marlowe led Steven to the table and helped him sit down. "Don't be such a miser, Steven. I'm teaching Dodo to cook a famous Kit Marlowe breakfast with all the trimmings."

"Don't know what's worse, the idea of your 16th century cooking or the fact Dodo's helping."

"What an ungrateful little man you are. This is our last breakfast together, show a little more enthusiasm."

"I'm sorry, I'm just tired."

After Steven had come around to the idea of the breakfast, the four friends sat down together for their last meal and to share each other's company for the final time. For the Doctor it was a rare treat to share in a final meal with a companion before their departure. Usually his goodbyes were abrupt and painful but here he felt content that he was leaving Marlowe with a real send off and a chance for some more years of life.

Marlowe looked at each of his friends in turn and felt a strange sense of happiness even as he was about to say goodbye. He first looked at Dodo. She was so young and innocent and he wondered what sort of woman she would turn into. In contrast the Doctor was old and wise and he hoped there was a long life still in him, with many adventures to share with new companions. Lastly he looked at Steven and felt a twinge of sadness in his heart. He had looked upon his face for months and the thought of a day without his presence was almost too hard to bear. He ignored his sorrow however and hid it away from his guests, hiding his pain beneath a mask of good cheer and flamboyance. He didn't want Steven to know how much it hurt him.

"A glorious breakfast," the Doctor said. "Glorious indeed, my boy. However I do think its time we thought about moving on hmmm?"

He took Marlowe's hand and shook it vigorously. "Good luck with your future endeavours, Mr. Marlowe."

"And you in yours, Doctor."

The Doctor arose from his seat and slowly walked to the door where he waited for Dodo. She approached Kit and kissed him on the cheek before hugging him tightly. "I'll miss you. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"I'll try not to. Look after Steven for me."

She nodded as Steven then also got up from the table. The Doctor pushed Dodo out of the door to enable the friends to have some alone time.

"I'll see you back at the ship, my boy," he said as he disappeared around the doorframe, dragging Dodo who was trying to watch what was happening inside the room.

"See you soon, Doctor," Steven called out after him and then turned awkwardly to face his friend. "I guess this is it then. You're definitely sure about staying?"

Marlowe smiled. "I'm sure."

Steven put out his hand for Kit to shake but instead of shaking it, he kissed it instead.

"I would like you to know my dearest Steven that of all my years and all I have done, I have never been happier than when I was with you."

"You'll soon forget me when some hunky Italian walks by."

Marlowe clutched his stomach with laughter. "Yes, 'Steven who' eh?"

"I'll miss you Kit." Steven could barely look at his friend.

"I think I shall miss you so much my heart will break in two," Marlowe said without intending to. He'd wished to spare Steven of his pain. "I'm making you blush aren't I?"

Steven touched his own cheeks which were hot. "Just a bit."

"You better get going before it becomes too hard for me."

"And you'll be alright?" Steven asked again, lingering longer than he should.

"What did I tell you about babying me?"

"You told me not to. Alright, I'll be off then."

Steven headed toward the door slowly and turned back to look at his friend one last time. He tried to say something, anything meaningful but he couldn't think of the words.

Sensing Steven was unsure of what to say, Marlowe spoke for him. "Goodbye my Steven."

"Goodbye Kit. Until you meet me again."

He turned sharply and quickly hurried out the door without looking back. Marlowe stood motionless in the middle of the room, unable to say anything as a single tear fell down his cheek.

…

Fifteen years had passed and finally Marlowe was reunited with his Steven. As Marlowe fell back from a blow during a duel in a tavern not so different from the way he was supposedly going to die in Deptford, he lay bleeding heavily from a wound he could not recover from. Steven held him in his arms, not knowing who Marlowe was having only met him days earlier. Marlowe however knew exactly who Steven was and had waited years for him to return. Steven had not aged and still looked as handsome and as beautiful as the day they had said goodbye, but Marlowe was older, greyer, and wiser in some respects.

"Indulge the last wish of a dying man," he mouthed. "Kiss me, Steven."

And with that, Steven fulfilled the last wish of Christopher Marlowe and Kit closed his eyes for the final time, content that at last Steven had come back to him.


End file.
